By Jacob Norling
March 9, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's and Women's Track and Field played host to Navy on Saturday in Santa Barbara, when the two teams competed in a dual meet. Facing elite competition, the Warriors got to sharpen their skills ahead of the season's second half.
 
An individual highlight for Westmont was once again the performance of Narindra Rafidimalala, who won the men's 100 meter dash by three-hundredths of a second. Navy had eight of the nine fastest 100 meter runners, but Rafidimalala won the event with a mark of 10.82.
 
Rafidimalala stole headlines again the long jump, with Westmont's best providing the event's furthest mark at 7.22m. Navy's athletes finished second-through-seventh in the event, with the next-closest mark being 6.84m.
 
In the women's 100 Jaiden Rodrigues had a solid performance as well, as the Warrior came in third in the event with a time of 12.29. Among attached competitors Rodrigues also posted the day's best mark in the women's 200 meter dash, finishing the race with a time of 25.06.
 
In the men's 800, only nine Warriors competed in the event, with the best of the unit being Jack Vanden Heuvel, with the former NAIA All-American finishing with a time of 1:54.05. Westmont's women were the lone competitors in the 800 as well, with Landon Torres finishing ahead of her teammates with a time of 2:24.65.
 
The case was the same in the men's mile, where Phineas Bonner ran the event in a team-best time of 4:23.21. For the women, Abigail Hundley finished ahead of her teammates with a time of 5:27.69.
 
The Warriors also raced the 4x400 relays amongst themselves, with Joshua Lin, Ben Bodine, Justin Hess, and Jack Vanden Heuvel posting a team-best time of 3:22.70. For the women, Claire Van Horn, Hundley, Annie West, and Torres finished the event in 4:21.62.
 
Westmont's full squad will return to action in two weeks, when the Warriors host the Westmont Classic in Santa Barbara. Looking down the road, the Warriors will also host the first-ever PacWest Championship on Westmont's campus, when the conference sends their best to Santa Barbara on April 26.