LOS ANGELES & TURLOCK, Calif. – A national qualifier contender all spring,
Tiffany Dinh of the Cal Poly Pomona women's track and field team improved her chances Saturday with a first-place performance in the Cal State L.A. Last Chance Meet's 10,000-meter run.
Dinh raced to a time of 35:45.87, roughly two seconds faster than the personal best she recorded on March 16 at the Occidental Distance Carnival. The mark, also the second best in program history, moves Dinh up two spots in the national rankings to No. 17.
Dinh joins Jacob Deavers as the two Broncos with with national top-20 marks, leaving them on the bubble going into Monday night's announcement of the accepted student-athletes for the D-II National Championships, which will be held May 24-26 in Pueblo, Colo. Justin Ellerbee and
Heather Corder came extremely close to joining Deavers and Dinh in that top-20 range. Each event includes varying amounts of student-athletes at the national championships and the rankings will continue to fluctuate as more last chance meets are held Sunday.
The championship field is expected to be released Tuesday at 9 a.m. on
Prime Time Timing. The preliminary performance list of
declared entries (PDF) were posted Monday morning.
A group of Broncos competed in Los Angeles Saturday while two - Shane Cioni and
Tramieka Thomas - traveled to Turlock to compete in Friday's Twilight Qualifier at Cal State Stanislaus. Both meets provided student-athletes with a final shot at qualifying for nationals.
One week after placing first at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships, Corder finished with a 14.37 time in the 100-meter hurdles event Saturday at CSULA. Her top time of the season remains 14.07, which ranks 23rd nationally.
Freshman
Emily Bandy continued her steady improvement in the pole vault Saturday, registering a height of 11-2.25 to move into a tie for third in the Broncos' all-time record books. Last week, Bandy finished fourth at the CCAA Championships.
Brooke Gamble came close to eclipsing her top 200-meter mark Saturday as she crossed the line in 25.00, just short of the 24.89 she ran on March 31 in Claremont.
Mia Moreno also had a solid showing in the 400-meter hurdles at CSULA, racing to a 62.95 mark that came close to matching the 62.50 she recorded on April 20 at Azusa.
Check BroncoAthletics.com on Monday night for updates on the Broncos' qualifying pursuits for spots at nationals.
