Posted: Mar 04, 2017

Shoultz claims Indoor National Championship in high jump; Bartz runner-up in long jump

Sophomore Sam Shoultz stands tall as the Indoor National Champion in the high jump. He cleared the bar at 7-feet, .50-inches and eaned NJCAA All-American status. Photo by Collin Dylla

The Pima Community College men's and women's track & field team sent some athletes to the podium on Friday after the first day of competition at the NJCAA Indoor National Championships.

Sophomore Sam Shoultz (Corona del Sol HS) secured the indoor national championship in the high jump as he cleared the bar at 7-feet, .050-inches (2.15 meters). He also earned NJCAA All-American status and 10 team points for the Aztecs in the standings.

Sophomore Hannah Bartz (Mountain View HS) finished as the runner-up in the women's long jump with a personal-best leap of 19-feet, 1.25-inches (5.82 meters) earning eight points for the Aztecs. She also earned NJCAA All-American status.

In other men's competition, the distance medley relay team of freshman Victor Bustamante (Flowing Wells HS), sophomore Alex Palacios (Mountain View HS), freshman Collin Dylla (Ironwood Ridge HS) and sophomore David Fernandez (Ironwood Ridge HS) took seventh place with a time of 10 minutes, 30.96 seconds giving Pima two points.

Sophomore Treyshon Malone (Yuma Catholic HS) placed seventh in the long jump with a mark of 24-0.75-inches (7.33 meters) while freshman Cam Duffy (Peoria HS) took eighth place with a leap of 23-7.25 (7.19 meters). Malone earned two team points and Duffy gave Pima one point.

In other women's action, sophomore Amber McCroskey (Buena HS) broke her own school record in the 60 meter dash preliminary race with a time of 7.72 seconds. Her old record was set at 7.79. Teammate Bartz was right behind her at 7.73.

Freshman Rhiannon Bearup (Skyline HS) set a new Pima school record in the 60 meter hurdles preliminary race with a time of 9.03 seconds.

McCroskey and Bearup along with sophomore Melissa Cotsonas (Mountain View HS) and freshman Tyra Yanez (Sahuaro HS) broke their own Pima school record in the 4x400 relay race with a time of 3:54.85. They had previously set the record at 4:01.50.

The men's team finished in 16th place in the final team standings with 15 points while the women's team tied for 21st place with eight points.

The Aztecs begin the outdoor season at the Willie Williams Invitational on Mar. 17-18 at Roy P. Drachman Stadium hosted by the University of Arizona. Competition begins on Friday the 17th at 4:00 p.m. Events begin Saturday the 18th at 10:00 a.m.

See live results on the NJCAA website