Junior Kenneth Medwood will be the lone representative for Long Beach State at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., June 10-13.
Medwood will be contending for the national title in the 400-meter hurdles after earning an automatic berth with a fifth-place finish at the West regionals. Medwood enters the meet as the 24th seed.
Medwood, a transfer from East Los Angeles College, has made an immediate impact at The Beach, posting the team’s top marks of the season in three events (400m dash, 400 hurdles, long jump). He established the fourth-fastest 400m hurdle time in school history at the Cal-Nevada Championships where he placed second overall (March 29). Medwood was an All-Big West performer and NCAA West Regional qualifier in both the 400H and the long jump.
NCAA Championships — 400m Hurdles Schedule
Wednesday, June 10 4:45 p.m. (Qualifying)
Thursday, June 11 5 p.m. (Semifinals)
Friday, June 12 6:05 p.m. (Finals)
*All times Pacific.
NCAA West Regional Recap
Twelve 49ers (nine men, three women) made their way to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA West Regional Championships at historic Hayward Field, May 29-30. Kenneth Medwood, LBSU’s only dual-event competitor, led the way with a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, securing the 49ers’ only national berth. He also took 12th in the long jump with a leap of 23-06.25.
Senior Rodney Hawkins finished 12th overall in the triple jump (47-02.50) but fell just short of an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.
In other action, sophomore Nimrod Piggee took 13th in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.73. Juniors Alex Freitas (800m) and Colin Dunbar (hammer) placed 18th overall in their respective events, while senior Patrick Smith was 19th in the javelin with a toss of 196-09. Senior Dylan Jaedtke (steeplechase) and freshman Matt Maldonado (1500m) also competed in the two-day meet.
On the women’s side, junior Tayler O’Connor cleared 5 feet, 7 inches in the high jump to finish in a tie for 10th place, while senior Carly Harris took 15th in the steeplechase with a mark of 10:46.76. Junior Missy Barclay also participated in the 1500m run (4:44.24).
Big West Championship Recap
The Long Beach State men’s track and field team placed fourth overall with 109 points, while the women took eighth (61.5 points) at the Big West Championships in Irvine, May 15-16.
Carly Harris paced the women with a pair of runner-up finishes in the 5000-meter run and the 3000m steeplechase. Medwood did the same on the men’s side, taking second in the 400 hurdles and the long jump. Patrick Smith (javelin), Colin Dunbar (hammer), Rodney Hawkins (triple jump) and Rajan Bains (discus) also posted second-place performances in their respective events.