Leopard Men Impress At SCIAC #3 Quad
The University of La Verne men's track and field team enjoyed several strong performances en route to capturing 10 events Saturday at the SCIAC #3 Quadrangular in Claremont.
The Leopards finished 2-1 in the three respective dual meets, narrowly falling to host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (85-78) while earning prohibitive wins over Pomona-Pitzer (134-25) and Caltech (144-19).
Among the many highlights of the day were a pair of school record performances were turned in by Jared Manke and Alex Forbess. Manke established a school record in the pole vault in winning the event with an NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 16 feet, 2 inches, winning the competition by more than a foot.
Forbess placed second overall in the 3,000 meter steeplechase but came away with a school record in completing his race in 9:54.7 to earn a spot in the Leopard record books. Forbess returned to place fifth in the 5,000 meters in a time of 15:51.24 in a strong field of competitors.
Not to be outdone was the Leopard dynamic duo of junior Marcus Fortugno and sophomore Paul Turner, who combined for five individual event wins along with a pair of relay victories.
As expected, Turner posted wins in both the long jump and triple jump. He captured the long jump with a 23-11 1/2 effort, an inch off his personal best, while bounding to a 48-4 1/2 win in the triple jump. He also earned a first-place finish in the 100 meters, debuting with an 11.06 clocking for his third individual win of the day.
Fortugno cruised to a 48.51 win in the 400 meters and returned to outclass the field in the 200 meters, racing to a 21.47 effort to take first place. Teammate Chancise Watkins finished behind Fortugno in both events, earning respective times of 49.34 in the 400 and 21.90 in the 200 meters.
Both Turner and Fortugno along with Watkins and Ray Del Rio comprised the Leopard 4 x 100 meter relay quartet which earned a season-best and NCAA provisional qualifying 41.45 effort en route to a first-place finish. Fortugno, Watkins, Michael Sacoto and Kyle Quintero concluded their day by capturing the 4 x 400 meter relay in the time of 3:19.78.
Sacoto, who set a school record in the 800 meters earlier this season, captured first place in his specialty in a time of 1:56.09.
Marcus Denerson led a 1-5 sweep in the javelin, earning first place honors with a toss of 180-5 with teammate Travis Jones placing second with a 160-4 performance.
La Verne resumes action next Saturday (April 16) at the Triton Invitational which serves as the final tune-up for SCIAC Championships in two weeks.
