Irwin's relay team qualifies for NAIA nationals

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics will have its track and field national finals in Louisville May 26-28, and one of the athletes who will be participating is Fallbrook High School graduate Tim Irwin.

Irwin, now a junior at Cal State University San Marcos, will be on the Cougars’ 4x800 relay team, which qualified for the NAIA nationals.

“Because of his consistency and his overall marks, he’s going to be on the team,” said Cal State San Marcos coach Steve Scott.

Irwin also competed in the individual 800-meter run for Cal State San Marcos, achieving a personal record this year with a time of 1:56.94 at the Steve Scott Invitational in Irvine April 30. Irwin also achieved a personal best in the 1,500-meter run this year; at the UCSD Triton Invitational April 22-23 he had a time of 4:00.13.

Irwin’s 800-meter run in the Steve Scott Invitational was fast enough to be one of the top four relay times on the Cal State San Marcos team. “I needed to put him in,” Scott said.

The Cougars’ next meet was the Oxy Invitational May 7 at Occidental College. Irwin had a time of 1:57 on his leg. “He did a very good job,” Scott said.

The team’s time in the relay was 7:45. A time of 7:47 or better was good enough to qualify for the NAIA nationals.

“It’s nice to see that all the hard work is paying off,” Scott said.