Bartlett is 5th in So Cal 1500 Prelim; 4 others qualify for Finals

      So Cal Prelim results

Nicole Bartlett grabbed fifth place in the 1500 on Saturday at the Southern Cal Women's Track and Field Prelims at Riverside City College.

Bartlett, a sophomore from Seattle, ran 4:53.21 to earn a spot in next weekend's So Cal Championships, which will also be at Riverside. Other qualifiers for SBCC were Kodie Hebert and Jessica Escalante in the javelin, Kathryn Rucker in the high jump and Mia Owens in the steeplechase.

SBCC had five qualifiers in the meet with the top 12 in each event advancing to the Southern Cal Finals.

Rucker, who was second in last week's WSC high jump, jumped twice and tied for the top qualifying spot at 1.55 meters.

Hebert heaved the javelin 33.13m to place eighth and Escalante was 12th at 31.89. Owens posted a 12:29.39 in the steeplechase to earn the 12th and final qualifying berth.

The 4 x 100 relay team didn't qualify despite a season-best of 49.84. Kaitlin Heely, Escalante, Marla Bonser and Courtney Linhares posted the 8th-fastest time in school history.

Escalante and Heely ran wind-legal season bests in the 100 with Escalante clocking 12.45 and Heely 12.93. Escalante's 200 time of 25.82 improved slightly on her No. 8 mark in school history.

The women's 4 x 400 relay unit of Alyssa Garrett, Judith Rodriguez, Bonser and Escalante  also recorded a season best of 4:14.18 but didn't advance.

"This was the end of the season for many of our athletes but we had many great performances and personal bests," noted coach Scott Fickerson.