Vincent Ta/HIGHLANDER
Vincent Ta/HIGHLANDER

After a one-week break, the track and field team took a short road trip to Pomona for the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. A total of 29 Highlanders competed in Saturday’s meet, six of which were able to finish in the top 10.

In the women’s high jump, Jazmine Lewis was able to tie with eight others for seventh with a 1.60-meter leap in the finals. Lewis also earned herself a seventh-place finish in the javelin throw, heaving an impressive 37.96 meters in the final round.

Highlander Michael Hern gave his team yet another seventh-place finish with a time of 10.72 seconds in the men’s 100-meter dash. However, Hern was unable to keep the momentum going into the 200-meter dash, posting a 22.32-second time, good for a 32nd-place finish.

Two Highlanders were able to sneak into the top 10 in the men’s 400-meter dash. BJ Smith took eighth place with a time of 48.77 seconds and Dylan Gates was not far behind, clocking in at the finish line with 49.02 seconds. Michael Pare also competed for the Highlanders in the 400-meter dash, finishing in 20th place with a 50.12-second time.

Eric Evans continued top 10 performances for UC Riverside in the meet, finishing ninth in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking in with a 55.42-second finish.

Shane Rowan capped off the Highlanders’ top 10 finishes in the men’s triple jump, posting a 10th-place finish with a 14.03-meter total in the final.

Assistant track and field coach Nate Browne made it a point that the team is “looking to make progress every week. We don’t need giant leaps forward. We need small steps of progression every time we get the opportunity to compete.”

Coach Browne also cited the progress of players such as Damajeria Dubose, Seth Totten and Michael Koger, stating that “[they have] been especially impressive. It’s [Dubose’s] senior year and she is making it count. [Totten and Koger] have made the biggest jumps in their sophomore seasons.”

The Highlanders will take a five-day break before going to Walnut, Calif. for the two-day long Mt. SAC Relays on April 18.