SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Soka University Lions competed at the Westmont Classic hosted by Westmont College on March 28th, delivering a number of solid individual efforts across track and field events.
Men's Highlights
Distance running was the strength of Soka's men. In the 800m,
Lev Nakamura led the group with a 2:08.34, followed by
Daiki Katsukawa (2:10.63) and Shion Hirano (2:27.50). In the mile,
Eiichi Takemura clocked 5:14.71 and
Mark Pliushchanskii ran 5:21.20, both gaining experience in a competitive field that included several strong Westmont and unattached runners.
Women's Highlights
Miki Kawamura was Soka's top women's performer on the track, finishing 7th in the 100m with a time of 13.57 and returning to place 7th again in the 200m with a 28.19 — the best finish of any Soka athlete on the day.
Danielle Sobande also competed in both sprint events, running 13.95 in the 100m and 28.70 in the 200m.
Hiromi Kawashima ran 14.25 in the 100m.
In distance events,
Jasmine Lorenzo (2:40.24),
Anna Kawaguchi (2:45.40), and
Tomoe Hamazaki (2:50.68) all finished the 800m, with Char Bolton completing the mile in 6:49.38.
In the field,
Mili Fukada had a productive double, clearing 1.35m in the high jump to finish 4th and jumping 4.35m in the long jump to place 5th. Kawashima also added a 4.30m long jump effort for 7th.
