The school year is drawing to a close and it seems that everybody is diving for the finish line. This weekend, bragging rights were up for grabs at the numerous conference races. As expected, there were many great performances and fast times. So, let’s get to the race highlights for last weekend. (I had some difficulties finding some of the results. As usual, I encourage readers to leave comments pointing out standout performances that I may have missed.) California Collegiate Athletic Association In the women’s team competition, UC San Diego captured the title with 248 points. Chico State came in second with 199 points and Cal. St. LA rounded out the top three with 110.5 points. In the women’s 400 meters, four competitors ran the provisional qualifying time: CSU Dom Hills’ Deirdra Pettigrue (55.11), Cal Poly Pom’s Tokunbo Adeniji (55.49), Cal State LA’s Rebekah McCall (56.03), and UC San Diego’s Anne Lee McGregor (56.27). In the women’s 3000 meter run, four competitors also ran the provisional qualifying time: Chico State’s Sarah Montez (10:02.60), SF State’s Anna Bretan (10:08.35), UC San Diego’s Diane Dunn (10:13.71), and Cal St. LA’s Liliana Hernandez (10:14.97). UC San Diego’s Christine Merrill won the 400 meter women hurdles with the time of 59.62, an automatic qualifying mark. In the men’s team competition, Chico State took top honors with 230 points. Cal St. LA took second with 175.50 points and UC San Diego rounded out the top three with 134 points. Cal St. LA’s Damien White won the 200 meters in the time of 20.55, besting his teammate Lamar Taylor’s second-place time of 21.01. White gained an automatic qualifying mark and Taylor gained a provisional qualifying mark. In the men’s 800 meters, Cal Poly Pom’s Sofiane Meniri won a provisional qualifying time of 1:52.22. Scott Bauhs won the 1500 meters in a time of 3:57.04. The next day, Bauhs hit the Olympic A standard at Stanford in the 10,000 meters with at time of 27:48.06. Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The women’s conference title was won by Grand Valley State with 251 points. Ashland University came in second with 155.50 points and Findlay came in third with 120 points. In the women’s 100 meter hurdles, there were three automatic qualifiers: Findlay’s Kirby Blackley (13.46), AU’s Alissa Klaehn (13.71), and Grand Valley’s Candice Wheat (13.82). In the women’s 1500 meters, half of the field provisionally qualified. In order of finished, the qualifiers include: Michigan Tech’s Andrea Metz (4:38.33); Grand Valley’s Susie Rivard (4:38.60), Kelly Gibbons (4:39.82), and Rebecca Winchester (4:40.51); HC’s Jen Gunderson (4:40.71) and Findlay’s Jessica Latham (4:41.82). In the men’s conference title, Ashland won with 233.5 points, barely beating Grand Valley State who scored 231 points. Saginaw Valley State University rounded out the top three with 96 points. In the men’s 400 meter dash, Ashland University’s trio of Nick Bellanco (47.48), Joe Horn (47.73) and Edwin Smith (47.81) all provisionally qualified and took the top three places. In the men’s 1500 meter run, Grand Valley’s Nate Peck won in the provisional qualifying time of 3:50.16, followed by AU’s Max Hiltner (3:51.40), Ferris’s Jared Kelsh (3:52.10), and Grand Valley’s Nate Polk (3:52.61). Great Northwest Athletic Conference The women’s title was taken by Western Oregon with 162 points. Seattle Pacific came in second with 158 points, followed by Western Washington with 142 points. In the women’s 1500 meters, Seattle Pacific’s Jane Larson won with a time of 4:29.66, followed by Northwest Nazarene’s Ashley Puga (2:35.10), and Alaska Anchorage’s Elizabeth Chepkosgei (4:36.42). In the women’s 3,000 steeplechase, Western Oregon’s Jessica Harper took first with 10:57.0. Seattle Pacific’s Suzie Stickler (11:03.0) and Western Oregon’s Lyndsey McKillip (11:04.0) placed second and third. Western Oregon also took the men’s conference title with 166.50, followed by Alaska Anchorage with 157 and Western Washington with 152. In the men’s 3000 meters, MSU Billing’s Richie Pemberton won with the time of 9:12.00, followed closely by Alaska Anchorage’s David Kiplagat (9:12.01). Lone Star Conference Abilene Christian took both the men’s and women’s conference titles. The women scored 290 points over Tarleton State (125 ) and Angelo State(102). The men scored 259 points over Angelo State (223) and Tarleton State (95). Abilene Christian’s Winrose Karunde was a three time winner in the steeplechase (10:50.17), the 5000 meters (16:45.00), and the 3000 meters (10:13.30). Her teammate, Daniel Maina, won the men’s 1500 meters in a time of 4:46.53, followed by his teammate Julius Nyango who ran 3:48.80. Mid American Athletic Association In the women’s team competition, Missouri Southern State won with 193 points, followed by University of Central Missouri (152.5 points) and Emporia State (149 points). Emporia State’s Jonel Rossbach took home three conference titles, winning the 800 meters (2:12.96), the 1500 meters (4:39.85), and the 5000 meters (17:37.42). In the women’s steeplechase, Missouri Southern’s Kara Eckard set an MIAA record with at time of 10:49.13. In the men’s competition, University of Central Missouri won with 174.5 points, followed by Pittsburg State (135.5 points) and Emporia State (199 points). Central Missouri’s Damon Berry won the 100 meters in 10.45. Fort Hays State’s Bryan Haynes won the 200 meters in a time of 20.69. Truman State’ s Sean Bergstedt won the 400 meter hurdles in 51.02. Northeast 10 Conference In the women’s team competition, Southern Connecticut won with 219.33 points over UMass Lowell (157.66 points) and Stonehill College (112 points). In the men’s competition, the teams finished in the same order: Southern Connecticut won with 229 points over UMass Lowell (144 points) and Stonehill College (128 points). Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Slippery Rock took top honors in the women’s team competition with 203.5 points over Lock Haven’s 111 points and Shippensburg’s 107.50 points. In the women’s 400 meter dash, Shippensburg’s Erica Hess (55.68) out sprinted Slippery Rock’s Lacey Cochran (55.97) to win the conference title. Millersville’s Priscilla Jennings won the 800 meters in an automatic qualifying time of 2:10.22. On the men’s side, Slippery Rock (124.5) topped Lock Haven (108) and Shippensburg (101.5) to win the team title. In the men’s 800 meters, Indiana PA’s Sean Strauman won in a blistering time of 1:48.57. West Chester’s Jarret Eaton won the 110 hurdles in an automatic qualifying time of 14.00. Lock Haven’s Paul Martin won the 400 meter hurdles in an automatic qualifying of 51.42.