DAVIS, Calif. – Dominican track and field had a big day as it competed against several NCAA Division I opponents at the Aggie Open on Saturday at Toomey Field and Woody Wilson Track.
The Penguin men finished in third overall trailing only UC Davis and Fresno State as they compiled 62 points, while beating out the likes of Sacramento State, Santa Clara, Saint Mary's and Nevada. The women finished 12th overall in the competitive field.
Andrew Reinhard got the men off to a blistering start as his final throw sailed 49.50 meters to vault him past the Aggies' Harrison Hansen for first place overall in the event and earning his team 10 points.
Adrian Aguirre made it three straight weeks with a win in the 110m hurdles as he topped a pair of runners from Fresno State by more than half a second as he finished in 14.42 seconds to add 10 more points on to the score.
Wakilli Bennett was the next Penguin to stand atop the field as he blew past the field in the 100m dash with a time of 10.44 with the closest attached competitor to him being Samuel Wilson of UC Davis who finished in 11.01 seconds.
Adrian Taylor added eight more points as he finished second in the 400m with a time of 49.65 topping runners from Fresno State and UC Davis.
Aguirre returned for his second event of the afternoon and claimed a third place finish in the 400m hurdles with a time of 54.80 and besting a pair of runners from the Bulldogs. Bennett wrapped things up with his second victory of the day in the 200m crossing the finish line in 21.65 seconds with Fresno State's Enoch Okoh in second place with a time of 22.24.
While the women did not score as many points they still had their bright spots as
Cecilia Berardi set a new Dominican record in the discus with a throw of 25.09 meters to beat her previous record of 25.07m.
Caytlin Capulong was the lone Penguin to record a team point as she also broke her own Dominican record with a throw of 32.44 meters in the javelin to place seventh overall and beat athletes from Fresno State and UC Davis.
The other highlights came in the distance races as
Courtney Santos once again set a new personal and Dominican record in the 5000m as she crossed the finish line in 19:07.52 to beat her previous mark by nearly 20 seconds.
Eryn Tufts also competed in the 5000m race and improved her personal best mark by 13 seconds by finishing in 20:12.30.
Dominican will compete again on Saturday as it heads to the Hornet Invitational hosted by Sacramento State at Hornet Stadium.
