Cougar Stadium marks eclipsed in both men’s and women’s races at Azusa Pacific; USC freshman Ayden Owens off to strong start in first collegiate decathlon, former UCLA standout Kendall Gustafson leads heptathlon over NCAA champion Georgia Ellenwood

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Cougar Stadium records were eclipsed Wednesday in both the men’s and women’s 10,000 meters and USC freshman Ayden Owens put himself in position to challenge the USC program record in his first collegiate decathlon, highlighting the opening day of competition at the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University.

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A pair of professional athletes from Mexico, Patricio Castillo and Andrea Ramirez, prevailed in the inaugural 10,000 races on the Bryan Clay schedule, both taking down long-standing stadium records in the process.

Castillo won the men’s race in 29 minutes, 29.12 seconds, breaking the 1994 facility record of 29:55.26 held by David Kogo of Lubbock Christian. Castillo also improved his on his previous-best 30:28.41 from 2017 by a significant amount.

Arizona State senior John Reniewicki ran a personal-best 29:32.52 and Fernando Cervantes of Mexico also ran under the previous stadium record by clocking 29:49.85 to place third.

Ramirez also produced a big personal-best performance, running 33:35.30 to lower the 1988 facility record of 35:12.15 held by Lorie Moreno of Western Colorado.

Ramirez, who entered the race with a previous-best 36:45.24 from 2014, and Boise State junior Clare O’Brien distanced themselves from the pack in the women’s race following the second lap.

O’Brien, who placed second in 33:39.43, led all the way until the 7,000-meter mark, before Ramirez moved in front. The athletes battled stride for stride until the final lap, when Ramirez surged to cover the last 400 meters in 72.2 seconds to separate herself from O’Brien, who ascended to No. 28 among collegiate performers this season.

Owens relied on the fastest times of 10.43 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 47.66 in the 400 meters to accumulate 4,266 points, leading defending Pac-12 decathlon champion and NCAA Division 1 indoor heptathlon winner Harrison Williams of Stanford, who amassed 4,192 points.

The USC program record of 8,022 points was set by Mike Gonzales in 1984. Only three Trojans in history have scored more than 7,700 points.

Former Michigan standout Steven Bastien has 4,179 points at the midway point, with Santa Barbara Track Club professional Tim Ehrhardt, a Michigan State graduate, right behind with 4,178 points.

UCLA graduate Kendall Gustafson leads the heptathlon with 3,601 points, a 38-point improvement on her previous-best first-day score from last year’s Pac-12 Conference Championships.

Gustafson, who placed fourth at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships last season, is looking to surpass her personal-best 5,886 points achieved at the Pac-12 meet.

First-year Under Armour professional Georgia Ellenwood, who captured the NCAA Division 1 title in her final season at Wisconsin, is second with 3,578 points. Ellenwood, who won at Bryan Clay last year with 5,983 points, is on pace to surpass the 6,000-point barrier for the fourth straight heptathlon.

Following Ellenwood is another Canadian in 38-year-old Angela Whyte, who accumulated 3,522 points, with Santa Barbara Track Club’s Juanita Webster at 3,509. Norway’s Ida Eikeng leads the next group with 3,501 points.

UC Davis senior Erinn Beattie, who sits in seventh place in the lead group with 3,430 points, cleared a personal-best 6-0.75 (1.85m) in the high jump to equal the No. 2 collegiate performer this season.