Rams see highlights in distance events, heptathlon, throws at Bryan Clay, Pacific Coast

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AZUSA, Calif./LONG BEACH, Calif. – The multi-event athletes, distance runners and throwers were each in action for the Colorado State track & field team on Thursday, and each group posted highlights between competition at the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate. Those meets were held from Cougar Athletic Stadium and Jack Rose Track, respectively.

Sanne Holland paced the Rams in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a top-10 overall finish and her best time of the season, finishing the fifth heat in 10:24.73. In her steeplechase debut on Thursday, Ali Kallner won the first heat with a time of 10:43.04, finishing just over 29 seconds and by half of a lap ahead of her competition.

Holland's time is topped by only 33 NCAA athletes prior to Thursday and by only five athletes in program history, while Kallner's steeple debut places her at No. 8 on CSU's all-time outdoor list. The Rams also had a heat winner in the steeplechase on the men's side, as Forrest Barton clocked a personal-best time of 9:20.00 to win his heat by over eight seconds. Capping off top performances by CSU distance runners was Luke Giugliano's 5,000 meters time of 14:15.37, which ranks 17th on CSU's all-time outdoor list.

Senior Talia Marquez moved up from eighth place after day one heptathlon competition to fourth place at the conclusion of the seven events, finishing with 4,963 points. The senior opened with a second-place finish in the long jump, clearing 18-5.75 (56.3m) despite a headwind of -1.7 m/s, the most faced by any heptathlete on Thursday. The Arvada, Colo., native finished with her best 800 as a Ram, clocking a time of 2:18.96 for her highest-scoring event (839 points) of the competition. Marquez's score ranks 10th in program history, and is topped by only 39 heptathletes in the NCAA at the time of this writing.

Highlighting action in the throws was the men's shot put, where senior Austin Blaho finished third overall with a personal-best mark of 57-7 (17.55m). With that throw, the Fort Collins, Colo., native moves up to 14th on CSU's all-time outdoor list. Rounding out top performances for Colorado State on Thursday was Maria Muzzio's sixth-place finish and personal-best mark of 163-6 (49.83m) in the women's discus. The sophomore's throw ranks 16th all-time at CSU.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Brian Bedard
On performances by the throwers:
"Considering the issues we had traveling today (delayed flight), for Austin (Blaho) and Maria (Muzzio) to hit lifetime bests on a day like today is a real testament to how they were able to prepare and be able to compete. Definitely wasn't the best situation to have these guys ready, so this was a really good job on their part."

Colorado State head assistant coach Ryan Baily
On Talia Marquez:
"She finished well today. She was a gamer and put a good heptathlon together. I'm really proud of the way she competed. She's heading in the right direction and moving towards where she wants to be. This gives her confidence going into the conference meet and that's a good thing. We had a good day, and I was happy with the effort for sure."

Colorado State distance coach Art Siemers
On performances in the 3,000-meter steeplechase:
"I thought we did really well today. Forrest (Barton) and Ali (Kallner) both won their first heats since they've been here. Forrest had a big PR, and I thought Ali was outstanding for her first steeplechase and had one of our all-time top 10 marks. She won by half a lap and I think she's got a future in the steeplechase. For Sanne (Holland), the time that she ran should make it into the first round of NCAAs based upon historical data. She was solid today, and is still getting into form, too, since she didn't have cross country or an indoor season (exhausted eligibility). Each time she runs, she has a nice improvement. I think she'll roll right into conference."

NOTES
- Talia Marquez improved upon her best time in the 800 meters at CSU (2:23.67) by nearly five seconds.
- Sanne Holland's steeplechase time of 10:24.73 marks over a seven-second improvement over her time run at the Stanford Invitational on March 30 (10:31.78). Her personal-best time is 10:21.52, which ranks sixth in program history.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State track & field team will continue its week in California with entries into a trio of meets on Friday. Colorado State will be in action at the Mt. SAC Relays, the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Beach Invitational.

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