Report By LBSU
The 49ers came into the weekend limping, and they’re doing the same after the first day in Irvine.
Long Beach State concluded the first day of the Big West Conference Track and Field Championships Friday evening at Anteater Stadium on the campus of UC Irvine in fourth and sixth place.
The men currently sit in fourth place with 30 points, while the women, who are competing without three of their team captains due to injury, are in sixth (26 points).
The biggest scoring event for the 49er men was the hammer throw, where they compiled 15 points. The group was led by junior Colin Dunbar, who had a runner-up performance after recording his second NCAA West Regional qualifying mark with a distance of 191-09. Senior Kellen Boaz was LBSU’s next finisher, taking fifth (175-00), while sophomore Rajan Bains placed seventh (165-03). Sophomore Peter Fourtounis rounded out the quartet in eighth place with a mark of 161-03.
Bains also scored in the shot put, finishing sixth overall with a career-long 52-06.00.
Junior Kenneth Medwood notched a regional qualifying mark and career-best 24-01.50 in the long jump. Medwood’s distance was good enough for second place, while he also advanced to the 400-meter hurdle finals with a runner-up finish in the preliminary rounds (52.79).
In other track events, senior Dylan Jaedtke scored in the 3000-meter steeplechase (9:11.62), where he is already an NCAA Regional qualifier.
Sophomores Christopher Lawson (14.45) and Nimrod Piggee (14.68) both advanced to the 110m hurdle finals after placing fourth and fifth, respectively. Junior Alex Goldberg will also be competing in the 200m finals tomorrow as he crossed the finish line in a season-best 21.77 seconds.
Rounding out the championship heat qualifiers for the men were Alex Freitas (800m), Jonathan Evans (800m), Matt Maldonado (1500m) and Bret Hasvold (1500m).
On the women’s side, senior Carly Harris, who bettered her career best by over six seconds, established a school record in the 3000m steeplechase, clocking in at 10:28.31. It is her second NCAA Regional qualifying time in the steeple, while she also owns a regional mark in the 5000m.
Senior Kristina Wilson added a runner-up performance in the 10,000m (36:10.13), while sophomore Veronica Franco also scored in the event, tying for eighth with a career-best 36:50.57.
Sophomore Katelyn Beighton (11-07.75) and senior Katie Crowe (11-01.75) both scored in the pole vault, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. Freshman Rachel Hammar was the only female 49er thrower to score on the first day of competition as she came in sixth in the discus with a career-long 143-00.
Freshman Ashley Campbell had a pair of strong performances, advancing to the finals in the 100 and 200. Senior Ejiro Okoro took fifth in the 800m with a lifetime-best 2:13.76 to move on to the championship heat tomorrow, while freshman Jessica Barnard just missed out on qualifying, placing ninth with a personal-record 2:14.84.
Both the Long Beach State men and women will look to move up the leaderboards tomorrow when they close out the conference championship meet. The field events are set to get underway at 11 a.m. with the women’s hammer throw, while the track events will start at 4 p.m. with the men’s 4×100 relay.
Big West Championships
Irvine, Calif. — Anteater Stadium
Day One – May 15, 2009
Men’s Team Standings (7 Events Scored)
1. CS Northridge 61.50
2. Cal Poly 54
3. UC Davis 35.50
4. Long Beach State 30
5. CS Fullerton 28
6. UC Santa Barbara 25
7. UC Irvine 21.50
8. UC Riverside 17.50
Women’s Team Standings (7 Events Scored)
1. CS Northridge 76
2. Cal Poly 43.50
3. UC Davis 38
4. CS Fullerton 35
5. UC Santa Barbara 27
6. Long Beach State 26
7. UC Irvine 15.50
8. UC Riverside 12