Superstar rookies lead the Seawolves to victory at the Track and Field Invitational – Sonoma State Star

The Sonoma State women’s track and field team met Cal State Eastbay on Saturday, February 19, their first event in over two years. SSU won 8 of the 10 events they competed in at the Feb. 19 Cal State East Bay tri-meet with Sonoma State, CSUEB and Dominican University, including the 100-meter dash, the 400-meter and the 4×100 meter relay.

A few new faces for the Seawolves cross country roster made their SSU track and field debuts. Last week’s CCAA Track and Field Athlete of the Week, true freshman Alex Boyle, made her track debut in the 1500 meter and 4×400 meter relay. She helped SSU to a first-place win in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 4:22.00, about 20 seconds faster than second-place Dominican University. Boyle also finished second in the 1500 with a time of 4:55.32, with Cal State East Bay’s Chase Worthen taking first place.

“Eastbay has traditionally had a strong distance program over the years,” said head coach David Lawrence. “At SSU we are building a balanced program at distance and at the side of the track, which will always work to our advantage when we face off against one-sided teams in our conference.”

The Seawolves have now had back-to-back wins over Cal State East Bay dating back to the pre-pandemic 2020 season. After a great fall season, head coach Lawrence continues to make significant strides in both the cross country and track departments.

Freshman Brittney Glor would build on the program’s recent success in the shot put, winning by more than four feet (29’5). Mia Oggenfuss, a dynamic competitor, also competed in the shot put and finished second with a score of 25’4.” Oggenfuss would also make her SSU debut in the long jump, finishing in the top-5.

The day’s race, the 5000m, was also won by the Seawolves as rookie Abby Ribet carried her fall cross-country success into the spring track season. Ribet finished first with a time of 19:40.50, more than a minute faster than second place. Another newcomer, Maddy Petersen, finished second in the event with a time of 20:48.14. Freshmen Katie Sheldon and Sydney Lopes would make their SSU debuts in the 400 meters and place first and second, respectively, in the 2022 track season.

Coach Lawrence is confident his team will be great but feels it will only get better as the season progresses. “This season is going to be a bit of a rust remover early on for most of our athletes because of the pandemic over the past few seasons,” Lawrence said. “Our sophomores are competing for the first time since their senior year of high school, and our freshmen have had their senior season cut short. I expect our athletes to progress as the year progresses and become more skilled at their individual events. As a program, we aim to qualify as many athletes as possible for our conference championship in May for a better finish than the last championship in 2019 prior to my arrival. “

The Sonoma State women’s track and field team looks forward to the Kim Duyst Invitational being hosted by Stanislaus State on March 4-5.

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