Meredith Bloss, Brooke Simon Sweep SCIAC Awards for CMS Women's Track and Field

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Meredith Bloss and Brooke Simon captured the SCIAC Track Athlete of the Week and Field Athlete of the Week, respectively, for events through Sunday, Feb. 27, the league office announced on Monday.

Simon was the top collegiate competitor by a wide margin in the pole vault at the CMS Rossi Relays on Saturday. She ended up tied for first with a top clearance of 3.8 meters (12 feet, 5.5 inches), but finished in second place due to number of attempts. However, the vaulter in first, Alyana Nicolas of San Jose Track Club, was a non-collegiate entrant, which left Simon the top collegiate finisher by almost six inches - and the only one over 12 feet - among a field that included several UC San Diego and Fresno Pacific entrants.

Bloss, meanwhile, finished first in the 3000 meters at the CMS Rossi Relays on Saturday, beating out a field that included runners from every division, including large contingents from Loyola Marymount and UC San Diego, finishing in a time of 10:02.05, seven seconds faster than Claire Graves of Division I Loyola Marymount, who was second in 10:09.90.

It was actually one of two impressive performances in the 3000 meters by the Athenas this weekend, 3000 miles apart. Emily Clarke traveled to Boston University to compete in the Last Chance Indoor Invitational and ran the 12th fastest time in the country during indoor season, clocking a 9:46.47 on the banked track at Boston University, which adjusts for the Division III performance list to a 9:51.52. However, the SCIAC awards are restricted to performances in outdoor track and field, which left Clarke ineligible for the award. 

CMS will be back in action this weekend for its first SCIAC Multi-Dual on Saturday, which will be hosted by La Verne.