Godina, Sauer Cut a Record in Irvine

Mark Godina and Mary Sauer set records Sunday at UC Irvine’s Steve Scott Invitational track and field meet.

Godina used his final attempt to hurl the shotput 70 feet 1 inch, eclipsing Jim Doehring’s 12-year-old meet record of 69-11 3/4. Godina also won the discus.

Sauer provided some drama in the women’s pole vault, breaking by more than two inches the stadium record established last week at the California/Nevada Meet by UCLA’s Tracy O’Hara. Sauer cleared a personal-best 14-8 1/4 but failed in three tries to go higher.

Cal State Fullerton did well in the field events. Brandon Campbell won the long jump with a leap of 24-4 1/2 and finished second in the high jump, clearing 6-8 3/4. Teammate Joe Thomas won the triple jump (50-8) and finished fifth in the high jump (22-11). Fullerton’s Dennis Churchill set a school record of 16-4 3/4 in the pole vault.

Rachel Lafady of Concordia won the 5,000-meter run, which was notable for who didn’t run. Irvine’s Kareen Nilsson, whose best time this season is 16:45.04, an NCAA Division I provisional mark, opted to enter the 1,500, in which she posted the fourth-best time of the day (4:35.75). Unchallenged, Lafady, one of the top cross-country and track runners in the NAIA, ran away with the 5,000 in a slow 17:48.19.

Godina’s shotput toss into a light cross wind was the best mark in the world this year. His winning throw in the discus (209-2) was his best of the season and fourth-best in the nation this year. The 28-year-old Godina, who has thrown 72-3 in the shotput, said he feels he can reach 76 or 77 feet before he is through.

“I wish I would have come into this meet as loose as I do in practice,” he said. “It’s hard early in the season to be relaxed because you only have two meets under your belt. Later in the year I should be better.”

With a gentle wind at her back, Sauer cleared the winning height on her second jump. The bar went up to 15 feet and after some discussion, Sauer asked for it to be raised an additional three-quarters of an inch. Had she cleared it, it would have been the second-best mark in the world. But Sauer clipped the bar on her way down on the first attempt, crashed through it on the second and barely caught the bar on her final try.