Track Runs Well at Pomona-Pitzer Invitational

Saturday, April 6

Claremont, Calif.

9:15 a.m. PT

Pepperdine University

Pomona-Pitzer Invitational

Jalen Frantal

Photo by: Jeff Golden

4/6/2019 9:36:00 PM | Track

Results

By: by Athletic Communications

CLAREMONT, California – Jalen Frantal won the men's 5,000 meters and the men's 4x400 relay team set a school record to highlight the Pepperdine track teams' participation in the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Saturday.

Frantal (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central HS), a junior, finished first out of 52 runners with a time of 14:59.03 in the 5,000. Senior Nick Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) took third place in the event.

The 4x400 team of freshman Connor Shahadi (Elkton, Md./Tri-State Christian Academy), sophomore Kieran Halewyn (Lake Oswego, Ore./Southridge HS), sophomore Brandon Davis (Troy, Mich./Troy HS) and junior Treet Allison (Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) posted a time of 3:22.78, nearly three seconds better than the record set last year.

In the men's 1,500, Halewyn ran 3:57.72 to win his heat, the best time by any Wave this year and a personal record. He was already #3 on the Waves' all-time list in this event and that did not change. Shahadi had the Waves' best time in the 800.

For the women, the best finishes were turned in by sophomore Caila Tongco (Kent, Wash./Kent-Meridian HS), who was ninth out of 46 runners in the 100 hurdles, and sophomore Abbey Meck (Santa Cruz, Calif./San Lorenzo Valley HS), who was 12th out of 72 runners in the 800 meters. Meck's time of 2:15.93 puts her at #2 on the Waves' all-time list. She's now in the top five in five different outdoor events.

The Waves had a number of good times in the women's 400 hurdles. Senior Catie Barilla (Alta Loma, Calif./Los Osos HS) had a season-best time of 1:06.13. She's already the school record-holder in the event. Freshman Tiffany Egbo (Gilbert, Ariz./Highland HS) and sophomore Sheridan Davis (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge HS) ran 1:06.77 and 1:06.84, respectively, putting them at #3 and #4 on the Waves' all-time list.

The women's 4x400 team of Egbo, Meck, Tongco and Barilla had a season-best time by nearly six seconds of 4:00.87. Other Waves who were the team's top finishers in various events were Tongco in the 100, junior Katie O'Malley (San Ramon, Calif./Dougherty Valley HS) in the 200, freshman Alexa Ortega (Chatsworth, Calif./St. Genevieve HS) in the 400, junior Izabela Garcia-Arce (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista HS) in the 1,500 and freshman Annelies Ondersma (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./University Liggett School) in the 5,000.

"Jalen won the 5k in pretty commanding fashion," Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said. "He was in third place, quite a bit behind the leader, and Nick was in second on the last lap, but Jalen came back and got them at the tape, and broke 15 minutes for the first time ever. The men's 4x4 broke the school record and that was great. We had a lot of PRs today, a lot of runners won their heat, it was a beautiful day and a fun day for everyone."

Pepperdine returns to action next Saturday (April 13) at UC San Diego's Triton Invitational.