CLAREMONT, Calif. – Although a "B" provisional mark doesn't carry any guarantees, Saturday's 400-meter hurdles performance from Cal Poly Pomona's
Jacob Deavers has him on the brink of earning a return trip to nationals.
During Deavers' All-American season in 2011, the Lake Elsinore native topped out at 52.26. On Saturday during day one of the Cal-Nevada Invite, he set a new personal best when he crossed the line in 52.18. With that being the top time among prelim competitors at the meet, Deavers easily earned a spot in the Sunday finals race to be held at 3 p.m.
The 52.18 mark, which ranks fourth nationally in comparing it to 2012 Division II results entering this week, moves Deavers into fifth all-time in the Broncos' record books for that event. Adam Moore holds the No. 1 spot with a 51.40 time recorded during the 2007 season.
Several other Broncos turned in stellar prelim performances Saturday to earn spots in the Sunday final races.
Tanner Terry and
James Weiner ran well in the 200-meter dash as they posted respective marks of 21.60 and 21.71. Terry also qualified for the final of the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.89. The pair will be busy Sunday as the schedule features the 100 at 2:45 p.m. and the 200 at 3:20 p.m.
Sophomore sprinter
Brian Crane continues to improve and he'll be competing Sunday as well after racing to a 49.24 time in the 400-meter dash. The final for that event will start at 2:35 p.m.
Two other members of the CPP squad also came close to notching a personal best Saturday.
Shane Cioni registered a hammer throw mark of 159-02 while
Matt Boudreau posted a 110-meter hurdles time of 15.45 to finish 13th overall.
Also on the Sunday schedule for the Broncos is the 11:30 a.m. pole vault event, which includes six CPP student-athletes led by
Travis Voorhees. The Broncos' throwers will be busy Sunday as well with shot put starting at 11:30 a.m. and discus beginning at 2 p.m.
Oliver Santiago is part of the triple jump field with that event starting at 1 p.m.
The 4x100 relay team of Weiner, Terry, Deavers and
Sam Morales is set to compete at 1:30 p.m. and
Brandon Haugen races in the 1,500-meter run at 3:30 p.m. The 4x400 event that features the group of Crane, Terry, Weiner and Deavers is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
