CMS sends 10 athletes to NCAA Track & Field Championship

CMS sends 10 athletes to NCAA Track & Field Championship

GENEVA, Ohio – After a successful regular season, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps track and field program saw 10 athletes qualify for the NCAA Championship in Geneva, Ohio. The top-20 male student-athletes of each event were accepted into the national championship as were the top-22 female student-athletes. The championship will go from Thursday, May 25 to Saturday, May 27.

Championship Page | Event Schedule

Joshua Sealand (HMC '17), Cam Van (CMC '17), and Jesse Joseph (HMC '17) qualified amongst the Stags. The Athenas will be sending seven representatives; Carmen Mejia (SC '17), Vaiva Palunas (SC '17), Nicole Laliberte (CMC '17), Tyra Abraham (SC '18), Bryn McKillop (SC '18), Emily Bassett (CMC '18), and Jacque Desmond (SC '19). Sealand, Abraham, Mejia, and Bassett are the returning All-Americans from last season.

Sealand will be competing in multiple events, running in the 800 meter and 1500. The senior currently boasts the 5th-best time in the nation for the 800 this season, having clocked in at 1:49.90 at the 2017 SCIAC Championship. He also has the 11th-best time in the 1500 at 3:49.94. Joseph will be running in the 10,000 after being on the bubble prior to the selection day. His best time came at the Mt. SAC Relays, coming in at 30:41.45.

Van set the CMS all-time record in the triple jump at 15.02 meters at the SCIAC Championship, posting the 5th-best mark in the country this season.

Reigning national champion Abraham will return to the 100 to reclaim her title, having posted a season-best time of 11.81 (with 2.5 wind assistance) this season at the Redlands Final Qualifier. Her time is currently the 8th-best time in the country this season. She also posted a CMS all-time best 24.36 in the 200, the 8th-best mark in the country.

Mejia will represent CMS in the 800, coming in with the second-best time of the nation at 2:08.60 from the Oxy Invitational. Her mark is also a CMS all-time best. McKillop will compete in the 1500, having posted a 4:27.33 for the 4th-best time in the nation this season. She will also be racing in the 5000, which she finished at 16:56.33.

Desmond set the CMS all-record in the pole vault in just her second year with a mark of 3.81 meters at the SCIAC Multi Dual 3. Her score sits as the 12th-best in the nation this season.

In the throws, Palunas will be competing in the hammer, discus, and shot put in hopes of making a splash in her final event of her collegiate career. Palunas has CMS records in all three events, posting a 56.83 in the hammer (5th in nation), 49.31 in the discus (3rd in the nation), and 13.96 in the shot put (14th in the nation). Alongside, Bassett and Laliberte will also be competing in the hammer. Bassett has posted a 56.54 in the hammer, the 7th-best mark in the nation, while Laliberte threw for 51.98 to post the 20th-best mark.

By Young Kim
Sports Information Assistant

CMS Email Updates
CMS Athletics on Facebook: AthleticsCMS
CMS Athletics on Twitter: AthleticsCMS
CMS Athletics on Instagram: cmsathletics
CMS Athletics YouTube: ClaremontMuddScripps
#goathenas    #gostags