By Jacob Norling
February 13, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's and Women's Track and Field hosted the Sunshine Indoor Open and Combined Events this past weekend, with the Warriors adding a few national qualifying marks to their resume.
 
Per usual, Zola Sokhela was the first Warrior to make a key headline on Saturday, when he competed in the men's 1000 yard run. With a time of 2:28.54 Sokhela not only finished ahead of the rest of the field, but also ran an A-Standard qualifying time for the NAIA Indoor National Championships.
 
Sokhela already owns the top-three 1000 times in program history, with the fastest mark being clocked at 2:25.74. Sokhela's Saturday time of 2:28.54 is the seventh-fastest time in program history.
 
Last year at Indoor Nationals Sokhela earned NAIA All-American status with a runner-up finish and a time of 2:26.43.
 
Jack Vanden Heuvel ran alongside Sokhela during last season's 1000 at Indoor Nationals, when the freshman achieved All-American status with a time of 2:31.11 and an eighth-place finish.
 
This year, the now sophomore got one step closer to returning to the Indoor Nationals when he ran a B-Standard 2:29.83 at the Sunshine Indoor Open. Vanden Heuvel's time was a mere 0.83 seconds from the A-Standard, and less than half a second shy of a top-10 time in program history.
 
Vanden Heuvel's name is on the 1000 top-10 list twice already, with the All-American's fastest career time in the event being clocked at 2:27.90.
 
Abby Rumohr was the only non-1000 Warrior to earn a national qualifying mark on Saturday, when she cleared the B-Standard height of 3.42m during the women's pole vault. Fortunately for Rumohr she won't have to stress about qualifying for nationals, as she already cleared the A-Standard 3.52m (11-6.5) during the On Your Marks Open.
 
Rumohr will return to the NAIA Indoor National Championships in Brookings, South Dakota, where she narrowly missed All-American status in 2022 with a 10th-place finish.
 
Multiple other Warriors finished ahead of their opponents on Saturday, but no other Westmont athletes were able to crack the national qualifying times. Sokhela was also included on this list, where he ran a 400m dash of 50.98, just shy of the B-Standard time of 49.21.
 
Elsewhere, Ben Bodine finished first in the men's 600m run, finishing with a time of 1:23.39. On the women's side of the 600 Siena Keck ran a meet-best 1:37.51.
 
Also for the women, Abigail Hundley finished the 1000 meter run in a meet-best time of 3:15.69, and Madden Hundley ran the mile in a meet-best time of 5:15.92. Also finishing ahead of the pack for the women was Charlotte Williams, who finished with a collegiate-athlete best time of 1:02.47 in the 400m dash.
 
Andres Leon finished with a meet-best time in the men's 800, finishing with a time of 2:03.68, and Adam King finished with a meet-best time of 4:24.29 in the mile.
 
The Warriors will look to add to their list of national qualifiers on Saturday, February 18, when they compete in the Soka Indoor Qualifier.
 
The NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships begin on March 2 in Brookings, South Dakota.