Track & Field Senior Kristen Zortman

Caltech’s Kristen Zortman came in 14th place at the 2005 NCAA Div. III National Championships this past weekend.

The Senior from Stevens Point, Wisconsin produced a throw of 123 feet, 5 inches (37.62 meters). She had earlier qualified for the championships with a school-record throw of 134 feet (40.84 meters) at the SCIAC Multi-Duals.

In addition to her school record in the Women's Javelin, Zortman graduates holding three other school records in Track & Field, with marks of 13.28 in the 100 Meter dash, a 27.25 in the 200 Meter dash and running the anchor leg of the record-holding Women's 4x100 relay team that finished with a time of 51.89.

Track & Field : Caltech's Kristen Zortman qualifies for Nationals

Caltech’s Kristen Zortman has qualified for the 2005 NCAA Div. III National Championships, to be held May 26th-28th at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

The Senior from Stevens Point, Wisconsin qualified in the Women’s Javelin with a career-best throw of 134 feet (40.84 meters) at the SCIAC Multi-Duals. Zortman’s mark set a new school record, the third time in two seasons she’s broken the record in Women’s Javelin.

Zortman holds three other school records in Track & Field, with marks of 13.28 in the 100 Meter dash, a 27.25 in the 200 Meter dash and running the anchor leg of the record-holding Women's 4x100 relay team that finished with a time of 51.89.

Equally impressive has been Zortman’s versatility. During her four-year collegiate career, she’s lettered twice in Women’s Track & Field, three times in Women’s Volleyball and twice playing for the Baseball team, the only female player in school history to letter in Baseball.

This past Sunday at the Annual Caltech All-Sports Awards Banquet, Zortman was honored as the 2004-2005 Outstanding Athlete.

Senior Kristen Zortman and Juniors Tim Tirrell and Stuart Ward all participated at the Occidental Track & Field Invitational this past weekend.

Zortman, attempting to clinch a spot at the NCAA National Championships later this month, came in second in Women's Javelin with a distanceof 40.45 meters; approximately 132 feet, eight inches. It was one of her best throws of the season, just 16 inches short of her career school-record of 134 feet.

Tirrell and Ward both participated in the Men's 400 Meter Dash. Tirrell finished with a time of 50.43 and Ward came in with a time of 50.99.

Zortman and several other Caltech athletes will compete in the Claremont Mudd-Scripps Invitational next Saturday.

Track & Field Junior Jeremy Leibs

April 19th, 2005
Leibs wins SCIAC Championship in 110 HH; three Caltech records fall

Third time was the charm for Caltech Junior Jeremy Leibs. Competing in the SCIAC Championship Finals for the 110 High Hurdles, Leibs finished with a time of :15.15, winning the first conference title for the Men’s Track & Field program in ten years.

Leibs, who finished third in both 2004 and 2003, was the top seed going in. He also finished 6th in the 100 Meter Dash.

Juniors Patrick Boyle and Stuart Ward both posted personal best times in the 400 Meter dash. Boyle came in second with a time of 48.68. Ward came in fifth with a time of 49.76. Boyle’s time put him very close to qualifying for the NCAA National Championships.

The Men’s 4x400 Relay team stunned the conference with a second place finish. Their time of 3:21.00 was a season-best.

Senior Kamalah Chang broke the school record in the Women’s Steeplechase with a time of 11:52.92. She came in third in that event in the Finals.

Senior Kristen Zortman had a school record time of :26.79 in the 200 Meter Dash. Zortman also finished third in the Women’s Javelin with a throw of 125 feet, 9 inches.

Finally, the Women’s 4x100 Relay team once again broke the school record with a time of :51.17, coming in fourth place.

As a team, the Women came in seventh place and the Men came in sixth.

Congratulations to the whole program on an amazing weekend.

Track & Field Junior Jeremy Leibs

April 4th, 2005
Track & Field hosts SCIAC Quad Meet

The Caltech Track & Field team hosted its 2005 SCIAC Quad Meet this past Saturday.

In addition to Senior Kristen Zortman’s Athlete of the Week winning performance, the team had strong performances from several student-athletes, including Junior Jeremy Leibs, who came in first in the 110 Meter High Hurdles with a time of 15.44.

Freshman Elette Boyle came in third in both the Women’s High Jump and Women’s Triple Jump.

Freshman Natalie Szweda had arguably her best performance to date, winning the Women’s Pole Vault competition with a mark of 2.74 meters.

Sophomore Mark Eichenlaub won the Men’s 1500 Meter run with a time of 4:19.34.

The team competes next in two weeks at the SCIAC Conference Championships.

Track & Field Senior Kristen Zortman

March 22nd, 2005
Track & Field : At CSU Northridge Invitational

The Caltech Track and Field team had several strong performances at the CSU Northridge Invitational this past weekend.

Senior Kristen Zortman didn't break her school record in the Women's Javelin, but she did compete against opponents from several schools in all divisions. Zortman's best mark was 36.14 meters.

Freshman Matt Kiesz had a stellar performance in the Men's 800 Meter Run. Kiesz came in fourth place with a time of 1:58.40.

Junior Tim Tirrell ran a 23.60 in the Men's 200 Meter dash. Stuart Ward ran a 51.83 in the Men's 400 Meter Dash.

The team will compete next this April 2nd as they host the Caltech Quad meet with teams from Redlands, Whittier and Cal Lutheran participating.

March 15th, 2005
Track & Field soars at SCIAC Multi-Duals

The Caltech Track & Field program enjoyed one of the best weekends in its history this past weekend, at the Men's and Women's SCIAC Multi-Dual meets, hosted by the University of La Verne and Claremont Mudd-Scripps.

Senior Kristen Zortman, this week's Athlete of the Week, set four school records at Multi-duals. In addition to her three individual records, Zortman ran the anchor for a 4x100 Relay team that included fellow Seniors Helen Tai and Alice Lin, along with Junior Angela Magee. The four ran a 51.89, beating the previous record by .11 seconds.

Senior Helen Tai also broke her own school record in the 100 meter Hurdles competition with a time of 15.84 seconds, beating the previous record by four-tenths of a second.

Freshman Natalie Szweda had a spectacular SCIAC debut in the Women's Pole Vault, clearing ten feet and surpassing the previous record by two inches. Szweda's mark won the event by six inches over the first runner-up.

With these and other great accomplishments, the Women's Team as a whole finished 4-3 against their conference adversaries, the first time the team has had a winning record in conference since the 1988-89 season.

On the Men's side, Junior Jeremy Leibs ran a 15.19 in the 110 Meter high hurdles, winning the event and inching closer to his goal of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Junior Tim Tirrell had a personal best-time of 23.10 in the 200 Meter dash, good enough for a fifth-place finish. The Men's team finished the meet with a 2-5 record in conference competition.

Both teams will be back in action at the Occidental Distance Carnival, Friday, March 18th. Their remaining home meet will be April 2nd at the South Field.

Athlete of the Week
Track & Field's Kristen Zortman

Senior Kristen Zortman of Stevens Point, Wisconsin had the meet of her life this past weekend at the SCIAC Multi-Duals.

Zortman set an astonishing four school records, with marks of 13.28 in the 100 Meter dash, a 27.25 in the 200 Meter dash, a 40.84 meter throw in the Javelin, and running the anchor leg of the record-breaking Women's 4x100 relay team.

Zortman's mark in Women's Javelin won the event for her and Caltech, and qualified her at least as an alternate for the NCAA National Championships. Should she improve her mark to 43.40 meters by the end of the season, she will be guaranteed a spot. It is the third time this year Zortman has broken the school's record in the Javelin, which she first set last season.

In all, Zortman competed in eight events. In addition to setting records in Javelin, the 100 Meter dash, the 200 Meter dash and the 4x100 Relay, she also represented Caltech in the High Jump, the Shot Put, the Discus and the 4x400 Relay team.

Zortman will compete next at the CSU Northridge Invitational, March 16-17, as teammate Helen Tai and Zortman will compete to break the school's record for the Heptathlon.

March 8th, 2005
Track & Field: Zortman breaks Javelin record; team at Trinity University

While most of her teammates traveled to San Antonio, Texas for the Trinity University Invitation, Senior Kristen Zortman competed at the CSU Northridge All-Comers in her signature event, Women's Javelin.

Once again, Zortman broke her own school record, with a mark of 36.5 meters, or 119 feet, 9 inches.

Just one week earlier, Zortman had set a new record with a throw of 117 feet, 8 inches. Should Zortman post a mark of 38.9 meters, or 127 feet, 7 inches, she will provisionally qualify for the Division III NCAA Championships.

Meanwhile at Trinity University, several Caltech Track and Fielders posted personal records in their events. Among the highlights, Senior Helen Tai posted a 4.55 meters in the Women's Long jump. Freshman Rene Davis had personal bests of 36.02 meters in the Discus and 27.00 meters in the Javelin. Junior Dmitriy Kernasovskiy had career marks in the 400 Meter Dash (55.83) and the Long Jump (5.16 meters).

The team competes next at the SCIAC Multi-Duals this Friday and Saturday.

Track & Field Junior Jeremy Leibs

February 21st, 2005
Track & Field: Leibs takes 9th at Springco Invitational

Though most of the of their teammates were idle this past weekend due to the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers meet being cancelled due to rain, Juniors Jeremy Leibs and Tim Tirrell were active, competing in the 2005 Springco Invitational hosted by Northern Arizona University.

Leibs, hoping to qualify for the NCAA National Championships for Indoor Track & Field, came in 13th in the 60 meter hurdles prelims. He improved that to 9th place during the even itself, coming in with a time of 8.62. Both Leibs and Tirrell also participated in the preliminaries for the 60 meter dash. Tirrell came in with a 7.42 and Leibs had a 7.60.

Leibs represents Caltech's best chance to send a representative to Nationals. The team competes next Saturday, February 26th at the Whittier All-Comers.

February 14th, 2005
Track & Field hosts All-Comers Meet

The Caltech Track & Field team opened its season with its annual All-Comers meet, featuring opponents from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Junior Jeremy Leibs won the 110 Meter High Hurdles competition with a time of :15.44. A runner-up at SCIAC Championships the past two seasons and Caltech's all-time record holder in the 110, Leibs' represents the schools best opportunity to send a representative to the National Championships.

Junior Ransom Polythress had a career personal best in the Javelin throwing competition with a 47.42 meters.

Freshman Matt Kiesz was tremendous for Caltech in the distance running events. Kiesz ran an impressive 4:35 in the mile and a 9:28.8 in the 3000 Meters, both team bests.

Senior Kristen Zortman was excellent in the Javelin with a 34.24; eight centimeters off her school-record of 34.32 set last season.

Senior Helen Tai also had a good day, with a personal best of 15.43 meters in the Javelin, and a split of 65 seconds in her leg of the 4x400 relay.

The team competes next at the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers meet this weekend. Their next home meet comes April 2nd, in a SCIAC Quad meet.

Track & Field Junior Patrick Boyle placed 7th in the 200 Meter Dash in last year's SCIAC Finals

2004-2005 Season Preview

Head Coach Julie Levesque's Track and Field team is looking forward to another outstanding season. Top returners from last season include Junior Jeremy Leibs, who last year had met the provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Championships in the 110 Meter High Hurdles. A Western Region CoSIDA Academic All-American for excellence both on the playing field and in the classroom, Leibs was named Caltech's Male Athlete of the Year for 2003-2004. Joining him is Junior Helen Tai, who set four school records last season and was named Caltech's Female Athlete of the Year for 2003-2004. With a strong returning core and many excellent Freshmen coming into the program, the 2004-2005 season looks to be a great one for Caltech Track and Field!