Closing In on Qualifying

Saturday, April 9

Claremont, Calif.

All Day

California Baptist University

Pomona-Pitzer Invitational

Photo by: Nyck Yashiro

Closing In on Qualifying

4/9/2016 8:06:00 PM | Men's Track, Cross Country & Track

By: Sammi Sheppard, Director of Sports Information

CLAREMONT, Calif. — While some members of the California Baptist University men's track team took this week off to rest up for a big week next weekend, a few Lancers took advantage of the opportunity to improve their marks Saturday at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational.

Valentin Robert, who already has a guaranteed ticket to the NCAA Division II Championship Meet at the end of May in the 3000-meter steeplechase, just missed a provisional qualifying mark in the 1500-meter event. He took 11^th overall with a time of three minutes, 52.81 seconds, only a second slower than the conditional mark (3:51.68). Robert will look to shave that second — and more — off, which he is more than capable of doing, having taken three seconds off his previous-best time of 3:54.86.

Dennis Messmer took fourth overall in the 800-meter race, clocking in at 1:53.14. He, too, will look to shave a second off his time to pick up a provisional DII mark (1:52.33), but he has a guaranteed spot in the PacWest Conference Championships at the end of this month at Azusa Pacific.

Duncan Perillat took second in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:20.56. The junior already has a provisional mark in the event from the SF State Distance Carnival, but didn't improve on his personal best this time.

Ken Kipkorir (11^th) and Elliot Choe (20^th) also ran the steeplechase, finishing in 10:07.26 and 10:47.16, respectively. While not automatic qualifiers for the PacWest Championships, the duo will look to be one of the 16 fastest times to earn a spot in the championship meet, April 28-29.

Next week, CBU has a full week of events against some tough fields of competition. The Lancers will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays (Thursday and Friday), Bryan Clay Invitational (Thursday and Friday) at Azusa Pacific and the Beach Invitational (Saturday) at Long Beach State.

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