Golden Valley High track and field alum Chelsey Albertson (formerly Chelsey Totten) has had quite the senior year with Arizona State University.
As a distance runner, she achieved new college bests in the 1500-meter run (4 minutes, 16.02 seconds), the 5000 (15:53.07) and ran in her first-ever 10,000 (34:01.68), according to tfrrs.com
But before any of that, she got married. She and teammate CJ Albertson said “I do” on July 10, 2016, according to ASU student newspaper “The State Press.”
On top of it all, the pair advanced to the NCAA West Regional meet in Austin, Texas, which begins today and ends on Saturday. CJ will be in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, while the former Grizzly will be in the 5,000 run.
MORE TRACK: SCV success hard to keep track of at CIF-SS finals
Chelsey Albertson clocked 16:21.42 at the Pac-12 Championships for a ninth-place finish in the 5,000 to qualify for regionals.
“We’re really happy for her and really excited that she’s gotten to the level that she’s at and (her success) was never in question,” said Rob Evans, who coached Albertson at Golden Valley. “That’s just how Chelsey is. It was the same girl that we saw enter our program.”
At the upcoming meet, she’ll have to have one of the top 12 times out of the athletes at the West Regional to qualify for the NCAA Championships, which will be from June 7-10 at Tracktown USA in Eugene, Oregon.
“She was one of the first of my athletes to break through at Golden Valley on the girls side and really do some impressive things in league and at CIF,” Evans said. “We could always tell there was something special with her.”
Albertson’s sister, Weslie Pearce (formerly Totten), will be competing in the 3,000m steeplechase for UC Riverside at West Regionals. Her 10:23.24 time at the Big West Track & Field Championships earned her first place at the event and also broke the school record.
Saugus High alum Daniel Swarbrick – who is now a senior at California State University, Northridge – won the discus title at the 2016 Big West Track & Field Championships and successfully defended his title at the same meet this year with a throw of 183 feet, 8 inches.
Swarbrick will have to rank in the top 12 at the West Regional to move on to the national championships. Last season, he was four spots away, placing 16th in discus.
While representing the Centurions, Swarbrick was the 2009 All-SCV Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year and advanced to the state championships his junior and senior year in both shot put and discus.
After spending three-and-a-half-years in the military, Swarbrick picked up throwing again at Iowa State, then transferred to CSUN after two years.
“It looked like a tough climb (to be) out of throwing for four years,” Swarbrick’s father, Mike, told The Signal last season. “But he’s picked up right where he left off.”
