TURLOCK, Calif — The Warriors returned to action this week as they competed across two meets at Stanislaus State. Beginning with the multi-event competition and ending with an invitational, another ticket to nationals was punched by a Jessup student-athlete.
Head coach
Jeff Magley said after the meet, "It was great to finally have the sun out today for really the first time all year, and I think our athletes responded well to the conditions. It was good to see that from them."
The action from Turlock got underway on Thursday as three Warriors participated in the multi-event competition. All three Warriors competing set lifetime PRs in their respective events as
Jayden Jackson (heptathlon),
Jaylee Hameister (heptathlon), and
Alexander Travis (decathlon) produced a strong showing.
For Jackson, eclipsing 4,200 points for the first time, she meets the NAIA qualifying standard for the NAIA National Championship. However, this does not guarantee a trip to Indiana, as in multi-event competitions, the top 16 marks in the nation earn a ticket to nationals.
But with the qualifying standard met, Jackson joins
Kamil Jones and
Azalea Prince as the three Warriors to qualify for nationals in 2023.
"Jayden had a great performance, setting a new PR and breaking 4,200 points for the first time in her career," commented Magley on Jackson's showing. "Now she'll be in a little wait-and-see game as we see what happens to that performance list over the rest of the regular season."
The aforementioned Jones tuned up in his qualifying event, the 400m hurdle, winning with a time of 54.74. Jones competed in four events over the two-day invitational, including two relays and the 100m.
Prince also had a strong day, this time setting a PR in the 1,500m, posting a time of 4:58.36. The time moves her into second all-time in program history for that event. Also setting a PR in the 1,500m was
Hailey Hopkins, finishing at 5:29.70.
Erica Waseq set two PRs in the invitational, beginning with the 100m hurdles, as her time of 15.14 moves her up near the top of the GSAC. Waseq then set a PR in the 100m, finishing with a time of 12.82.
The strong season of
Jessica Pedretti continues as she took first place in the shot put. Pedretti, who will be looking to make a repeat appearance at the national championship next month, won with a mark of 12.51m. The throwing events also saw
Justin Heckman produce a career day as he set new PRs in the shot put, hammer, and javelin. His mark of 32.56m in the javelin put him second in the event.
On Heckman, Magley added, "It was great to see him continue to make progress in the men's throwing events for us."
The Warriors will continue their season next weekend when they return to San Francisco for the Johnny Mathis Invitational. As it stands currently, just two meets remain before the GSAC Championship at the end of April.
"We're excited to go to the Johnny Mathis Invitational next weekend," added Magley. "This is a big meet for us, being two weeks out from our conference championship. That's a big weekend performance for us. It will be an important week of training for us."
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Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter & Instagram).
