April 25, 2014
Berkeley, Calif. - Lalida Maokhamphiou dropped more than 10 seconds from her best 3000-Meter Steeplechase time and led the San José State women's track and field team at the Brutus Hamilton Open on the University of California campus on Friday afternoon.
"The weather was on and off today," assistant coach Brad Wick said. "It was raining and cloudy at times and windy most of the day, but overall I don't think it affected us too much. We had a nice day."
Maokhamphiou lowered her best time of the season by nearly 14 seconds. She ran an 11:19.77 to finish in ninth place. Her result is just over two seconds off the fastest time of the year for the Spartans; Rebecca Garcia's 11:21.65 at the SFSU Distance Carnival in March. Garcia, who also ran the 3000-Meter Steeplechase, finished in 10th place with an 11:27.53.
"Lalida had a really nice race," Wick said. "She took a good chunk of time offer her previous race and I would expect her to take some more off the next time out. Rebecca stumbled a bit, had a loose shoelace and never really felt comfortable in the race. I think for her it was one of those days. But we now have two runners who are at about 11:20.00 and with a good effort in the (Mountain West) Championships, they could both score for our team."
Aylin Mejia, in her second 5000-Meters this year, clocked a 17:58.59 in finishing 16th.
"Aylin went out too fast in the first mile and paid for it later in the race," Wick said. "It's sometimes difficult, in these open races, to know who to stay with and who to let go. There is such a wide range of times that if you make the wrong choice it will cost you in the end."
On Saturday, Garcia joins the entire squad at Buchanan High School's Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Calif. for Fresno State's 2014 Bulldog Invitational.
Brutus Hamilton Open
Edwards Stadium, Berkeley, Calif.
April 25, 2014
3000-Meter Steeplechase - 1. Ann Detmer (Unattached) 10:26.93, 2. Brittany Bushman (Unattached) 10:28.18, 3. Rylee Bowen (Unattached) 10:50.92. San José State - 9. Lalida Maokhamphiou 11:19.77, 10. Rebecca Garcia 11:27.53.
5000 Meters - 1. Alex Litzsinger (Utah State) 16:51.38, 2. Liza Hitchner (Asics Aggie) 16:56.04, 3. Elena Arriaza (Oklahoma) 17:01.17. San José State - 16. Aylin Mejia 17:58.59.