California Baptist University
Occidental Last Chance Qualifier
Running Through Records
5/8/2016 7:48:00 AM | Women's Track, Cross Country & Track
EAGLE ROCK, Calif. — In one of the last meets before the NCAA Division II Championships, California Baptist University looked to better its times and qualify more athletes late Saturday night.
Berenice Cleyet-Merle set the tone as the Lancers went running into the late hours of the night, setting a new school record in the 1500-meter event. She took eighth overall, clocking in at four minutes, 23.24 seconds to just edge out fellow teammate Veronica Hall's record of 4:26.15, set earlier this season. Cleyet-Merle's time was six seconds better than her previous best time and good for her first NCAA Division II automatic mark of the year.
The sophomore will get to compete in her first NCAA Division II Championship in a few weeks, May 26-28, in two events. Cleyet-Merle has the fourth-best time in Division II the 1500m, along with the fifth-fastest time in the 800m (2:08.41). Hall will also join Cleyet-Merle at the championship meet, sitting eighth in the division in the 1500 – hoping to improve on last year's seventh-place finish.
Charlie Davidson also picked up a personal-best time in the same event, finishing in 4:41.27. It shaved three seconds off her previous time of 4:44.25 to finish the year on a high note.
The Lancers have to wait until May 16 to see who all will be making the trip to Bradenton, Fla., but also have one last chance at improving on times to further their chances for anyone on the bubble next week in San Francisco. Last year, CBU sent four runners into the event and saw two grab All-American distinction, with one finding a spot on the podium with a top-eight finish.
