The Long Beach State track and field team concluded a successful weekend on Sunday as four 49ers recorded NCAA West Regional qualifying marks on the second and final day of the Asics/Steve Scott Invitational at Anteater Stadium.
“We had some phenomenal performances by our group today,” said LBSU head coach Andy Sythe. “Our distance program really shined this weekend and overall it was a solid meet in our last tune-up before conference.”
Leading the way was junior Missy Barclay who won the 1500-meter run with a regional qualifying time of 4:27.62. Barclay’s mark was a lifetime best and moved her up to fourth place on the 49er all-time charts. Senior Carly Harris also had a strong performance in the same race as she rounded out a 1-2 finish for The Beach, clocking in with a personal-record 4:29.13 (fifth all-time at LBSU).
Junior Alex Freitas qualified for the NCAA West Regional meet in the 800m with a time of 1:50.37, which was good enough for second place. Sophomore Jonathan Evans added a lifetime-best 1:52.86 in the same event as he took 10th.
Sophomore Nimrod Piggee was also an NCAA Regional qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 14.27 seconds for a third-place showing and ranking him 10th in the school record books.
Rounding out the regional qualifiers was senior Rodney Hawkins, who bettered his lifetime best in the triple jump by over a foot with a leap of 49-06.50.
In other events, junior B.J. Triplett continued to post strong marks in the short sprints, placing sixth in the 100m (12.12) and ninth in the 200m (24.65).
Sophomore Amanda Rosencrantz recorded a conference qualifying mark in the 400-meter dash with a season-low 56.92. Senior Tiana Johnson also notched a lifetime-best 39-04.00 in the triple jump.
On the men’s side, freshman Matt Maldonado finished ahead of the pack in the 1500-meter run, clocking in at 3:49.20. Classmate Bret Hasvold was the 49ers’ next finisher in 10th with a personal-record 3:56.44.
Junior Kenneth Medwood clocked in with a season-best 21.79 in the 200m, while junior Alex Goldberg did the same in the 400m (48.91).
In the field events, senior Collin Cram took third in the pole vault (15-07.00) and sophomore Rajan Bains was the 49ers’ top finisher in the shot put (3rd, 51-02.25) and discus throw (4th, 163-09).
Long Beach State will return to action next weekend when it takes part in the Big West Multi-Events Championship, May 8-9, at UC Irvine. The Beach will also send a small contingent of athletes to the Occidental Invitational on May 9.
Report by LBSU