Three Olympians and a slew of Olympic hopefuls compete at select events at Westmont College Thursday and Friday; Stanford’s Allie Jones returns to her hometown in season debut; event closed to the public due to ongoing pandemic restrictions
Santa Barbara, Calif. (March 25, 2021) – The 2021 outdoor Track & Field season kicks off in earnest for many Decathletes and Heptathletes today at the Adams–Klein Combined Events Invitational at Westmont College. Sixty Decathletes and Heptathletes with eyes on the Tokyo Olympiad as well as collegians looking for early postseason qualifiers will compete over two days on Thursday, March 25 and Friday, March 26. The event is closed to the public due to ongoing pandemic restrictions.
DECATHLON PREVIEW
Led by Santa Barbara Track Club’s (SBTC) Lindon Victor (GRN), six decathletes with personal bests over 8,000pts will compete in the two-day competition. Victor, the NCAA Decathlon record holder boasting a best of 8,539pts was a 2016 Olympian. While his brother and fellow SBTC teammate, Kurt Felix (GRN), represented Grenada at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games and has a best of 8,509pts. Four American Olympic hopefuls will open up their season, including Chula Vista Elite’s Harrison Williams (USA) who enters the 2021 season with a Decathlon best of 8,188pts, and SBTC’s Timothy Ehrhardt (USA), the 2019 USA Indoor Heptathlon Champion who has a best of 8,066pts. Fellow countrymen, Christopher Helwick (8,143pts) and Steven Bastien (8,000pts) round out the field.
HEPTATHLON PREVIEW
The women’s field is led by NIKE/Chula Vista Elite’s Erica Bougard (USA) whose 6,738pts is 4th all-time in the U.S. SBTC’s Barbara Nwaba FitzSimons (USA), a 2016 Olympian and US Champion, will return to competition after recovering from injuries; her best of 6,500pts ranks 8th all-time in the U.S. Fellow Americans, Annie Kunz (6,153pts) and Riley Cooks (6,111pts) of Chula Vista Elite will also compete in select events, while Lindsay Flach (6,050pts) will make her 2021 debut in the seven-event Heptathlon competition.
Amongst collegians, Stanford’s Allie Jones (Jr.), a former San Marcos High School and Santa Barbara Track Club standout will open up her season in the Heptathlon and has a best of 5,041pts (#9 all-time for the Cardinal).
The SBTC thanks the Warkentin Family, KMAP and Club West for providing support of the Adam–Klein Combined Events Invitational.
About the Santa Barbara Track Club
The Santa Barbara Track Club (SBTC) hosted at Westmont College aims to provide a pathway to the podium for athletes of all ages and abilities. The SBTC is comprised of Olympic and aspiring Olympic Track & Field athletes, a Youth Track Club as well as community members seeking to reach their highest potential through group and private training.