The Trojan Track teams didn't slow down a bit from their early season races during a weekend of racing in Topeka, Kansas. Washburn University hosted two meets on separate days to provide optimal competition to teams traveling from long distances to compete on their state-of-the-art banked track. The Mid-Week Challenge on Thursday saw two Trojans post qualifying marks to the NJCAA Championships. First was Brian Rotich in the men's 3,000 meters. Rotich ran a time of 8:23.34 to rank him 7th in the nation and get him into his second event at the National Championships to come in a few weeks. Sharon Jesang took to the track in the Women's Mile where she competed with a host of great athletes to run a personal best time of 5:16.68; which ranks her 8th in the country currently.
In the Men's 400 meters Ethan Coyhis ran an indoor personal best of 50.60 in his first race of the 2022 season. Tamsin Stewart and Kianna Quintana both competed well in the Women's 800 meters, working well together for most of the race. Their finishing times were 2:31.49 for Stewart, and 2:34.18 for Quintana. Conner Dosmann continued his hot streak of races by running a personal best of 4:16.58 in the Men's Mile. Adrian Villarreal was the next Trojan across the line in 4:28.96; which is his fastest time over the mile distance despite his altitude converted marks from previous weeks being slightly faster. Jarred Baca followed his teammate (Rotich) across the finish line in the 3,000 meters to grab himself a personal best time in the event. In the same event on the Women's side Ashley Lagat and Vanessa Dominguez worked together for the entire race before finishing in 11:03.99 and 11:04.61 respectively. Dominguez's time was a personal best.
The Saturday Ichabod Invitational boasted a much larger field of teams from all divisions of 4-year and 2-year schools from around the country. The Trojans did not back down from this challenge. Sharon Jesang got the meet off to a great start again for TSC in the Women's 3,000 meters. Jesang finished 11th in the race and ran 10:37.31 to score another NJCAA Championships qualifying mark. Tamsin Stewart doubled her distance from two days before by competing in the mile distance where she ran 5:39.63. Adrian Villarreal ran another personal best in the mile by topping his time from Thursday running 4:26.18 to win his second race of the season. Kianna Quintana ran the 800 meters again and finished in 2:35.61, just ahead of Tamsin Stewart who ran 2:36.17.
Ethan Coyhis added another Trojan National Qualifier in his first 800 meters of the season by running 1:55.81 and finishing third. Conner Dosmann ran an incredibly physical 800 meters but still managed to finish well in 1:57.94. The 5,000 meter races would end up being the highlight of the meet due to all four Trojans in the event punching their tickets to the NJCAA Championships. Ashley Lagat and Vanessa Dominguez set their sights on qualifying times and never wavered from that goal. They paced themselves well over the 25 lap race to go under the required time by healhty margins. Lagat came across the line in a personal best time of 18:55.65 to earn her first National Qualifying time of her career. Dominguez ran a stellar last 3 laps of the race to finish in 19:12.21; also a personal best time and her first National Qualifier. In the Men's 5,000 meters Jarred Baca tucked into a fast moving pack of athletes and refused to let up. His finishing time of 15:12.03 was not only a personal best and National Qualifier, but also a school record. Unfortunately for Baca, the record only stood for about 20 minutes before Brian Rotich claimed the fresh record for himself. Rotich committed to a consistent pace early as he spotted most of the field a healthy lead before gradually closing the distance as the athletes ahead of him tired. Rotich sprinted over the last 200 meters to flash across the finish line in 14:23.36. This time currently ranks Rotich second in the nation and is his third event in which he's posted a National Qualifying time. Coach Lauren Masterson was very proud of the races from the entire team this weekend saying, "From top to bottom our group came to play this weekend. We had a lot of top marks and school records that will gain deserved attention, but I'm just as proud of those who are posting their own personal best times or knocking on the door of big things."
The Trinidad State Track teams will compete for the final time of the indoor season at Western Colorado on Friday before preparing for the NJCAA Championships in early March.