LONG BEACH, Calif. – Led by a school-record performance on the track and a podium finish in the field, the University of Hawai'i track and field team sits in sixth place with 16 points following the opening day of the Big West Championships.
Robyn Larkan provided the highlight of the afternoon in the 100m hurdles prelims, shattering her own school record with a time of 13.44 seconds. Larkan bested her previous mark by .20 seconds to finish as the top overall qualifier heading into Saturday's final.
In the field events,
Lilian Turban delivered the Rainbow Wahine's first podium finish of the meet. Turban earned runner-up honors in the high jump, clearing 1.78m (5-10). While she matched the height of event winner Zharia Taylor (UCI), Turban took second based on the tiebreaker, recording eight failed clearances to Taylor's five.
Turban also contributed to the team score in the shot put, placing sixth with a throw of 14.61m (47-11.25), while
Valo Sopoaga finished eighth with a mark of 14.26m (46-9.5) to add a point. Celeste Sela earned the team's first point of the day earlier in the session, placing eighth in the long jump with a mark of 5.82m (19-1.25).
The Rainbow Wahine saw several athletes advance through Friday's preliminary rounds.
Isabella Kneeshaw secured the ninth and final qualifying spot in both the 200m (23.70) and 400m (55.06) to advance to both finals. In the 800m,
Catherine Touchette (2:09.06) and
Izzy Gorton (2:10.99) both earned spots in tomorrow's championship race.
UH wraps up the Big West Championship Saturday morning with action beginning at 9 a.m. HT.
