MANHATTAN- On Friday, the Cavaliers competed at the Steve Miller Open on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. The Cavaliers competed their hearts out on the day, says women's track and field coach, Alice Ross. Earlier in the season, Robert Torres (SR/Salinas, Calif.) (SR/Salinas, Calif.) qualified for nationals to compete in the 1,000 meter run, and Teresa Ambuul (FR/Colorado Springs, Colo.) qualified for nationals in the 600 yard run. Several other Cavs fell short of qualifying for nationals in the smallest of margins.
Teresa Ambuul qualified for nationals in the 600 on Friday, by finishing in seventh with a time of 1:29.11. Ambuul is now ranked No. 24 in the nation. Finishing right behind Ambuul was Sabrina DeSantiago (JR/Lubbock, Texas). She finished the 600 in 1:30.20, and missed out on qualifying for nationals by less than a second. Jasmine Mason (FR/Del City, Okla.) competed in the women's 60 meter dash, and finished in fourth place, with a time of 7.86, which re-sets the school record that she had set earlier this month. This was another heart-breaker for the Cavs, because Mason missed qualifyig for nationals by one hundredth of a second. The women's 4X400 meter relay team of Megan Cervantes (FR/Brownsville, Texas), Sabrina DeSantiago, Teresa Ambuul, and Jasmine Mason, finished in fourth place, with a time of 4:06.91. They missed qualifying for nationals by less than two seconds, but Coach Ross said," It was the best race I've seen out of them. They competed and gave it their all."
On the men's side, Robert Torres finished in eighth place in the men's 1,000 meter run, with a time of 2:37.93. Demetrius Jones (JR/Edmond, Okla.) (JR/Edmond, Okla.) finished in fourth place in the men's 60 meter hurdles, with a time of 8.60. This was Jones' second best time of the indoor season. Jose DeOchoa (FR/Mission, Texas) (FR/Mission, Texas) ran a season best in the men's mile, with a time of 4:39.02. Christian Arbuthnot (FR/Goodwell, Okla.) (FR/Goodwell, Okla.) finished just a couple spots behind DeOchoa in the mile, with a time of 4:41.29. In the men's 3,000 meter run, Christian Arbuthnot finished in eighth place with a time of 9:29.76, and Jose DeOchoa finished in twelth, with a time of 9:40.35.
Robert Torres and Teresa Ambuul will compete at the national championships in Johnson City, Tenn., on March 1-3.