Sabado-Halpern breaks record, earns bid to nats

Kaelia Neal, Editor-in-Chief

Tiffany Duff’s long-standing triple jump record was broken after sophomore Mehana Sabado-Halpern leaped to a mark of 39 feet, seven and three quarters inches at the Portland Twilight Invitational on Friday.

“During my freshman year, I never thought I could get the school record, but I’m so thankful for my coaches and teammates who believed that I could,” Sabado-Halpern said.

The record, which has been set since 1998, was 39 feet, one-half inch. Sabado-Halpern has been second on the Linfield all-time top 10 records list for the past year, but surpassed that with her more than one foot personal record leap.

With this accomplishment, Sabado-Halpern is almost a shoe-in for nationals. She is ranked tenth, and needs to be within the top-22 division three women triple jumpers.

She would have to fall at least 12 spots to lose her ticket to Ohio, but that is unlikely since there is only one weekend left for track athletes to compete for a spot at nationals.

“Her goal should be to become an all-American,” said Travis Olson, director of track and field and cross country.

“I’m so excited to improve my mark at nationals,” Sabado-Halpern said.

The NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships will be held on May 25, 26 and 27 in Geneva, Ohio.