After completing the multi-event championships a week ago, the seven Big West track & field squads return to Northridge this weekend for the rest of the championship competition. The event will run Friday-Saturday at the Matador Track Complex on the campus of Cal State Northridge.
The Long Beach State men and Cal State Northridge women will look to defend their conference championships against a solid field of competition. The 49ers took home the crown a year ago for the first time in 30 years, while the Matadors shook off the disappointment of a close loss in 2005 with the title in 2006.
2007 Big West Track & Field Championships Preview
Men
Defending Champion – Long Beach State
Sprints - Long Beach State's Brent Gray has had a stellar season with the top times in both the 100-and 200-meter and the fifth best time in the 400. Cal State Fullerton's Chris Epstein has been solid with the eighth-best time in the 100 and #2 showings in the 200-and 400-meter.
Distance - In the 800-meter run, Long Beach State's Alex Freitas leads a tight pack at the top, while Cal Poly's Phillip Reid and UC Santa Barbara’s Mike Chavez are close at the top of the 1,500-meter run where they finished 1-2, respectively, a year ago. The duo is also atop other distance races as Chavez leads the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Reid is tops in the 5,000-meter run with Chavez close behind.
Hurdles - Cal State Northridge has had a stellar season in the 110-meter hurdles as the Matadors own five of the top seven times led by Thomas Ross' league-best showing. Cal Poly’s Chris Frazeur leads the 400-meter hurdles, but Cal State Fullerton's Roberto Archibold and UC Irvine’s Napoleon Greene are right on his tail in the event.
Relays - Cal State Fullerton leads both the 4x100-and 4x400-meter relays headed into the Championships, but the defending champions in both events are right on their heels. Cal State Northridge is just .22 seconds behind the Titans in the 4x100-meter, while Long Beach State recorded its best time in the 4x400-meter just .34 seconds behind CSF.
Jumps - Cal State Northridge has had a dominating season in the jumps as the Matadors have the leaders in the pole vault (Sean Jones), long jump (Dashalle Andrews) and triple jump (Rolando Felizola). CSUN also has four of the top nine marks in the long jump and three of the top four in the triple jump. Cal State Fullerton has also had a solid season in the jumps with the leader in the high jump (Jonathan Golden), two of the top four marks in the pole vault and long jump and the second-best result in the triple jump.
Throws - Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara have shown their depth in the throws throughout the season. The Gauchos own the top marks in the shot put (Scott Anderson) and hammer (Eugene Bradley), while placing four athletes in the top six of the shot put, two in the top three of the javelin and owning the top two places in the hammer. The 49ers boast the top athlete in the discus (Rob Jennings) as well as five athletes in the top 10 of the event. In addition, Ezra Kwong is second in the shot put, while Jennings is third in the hammer. Cal Poly's Aris Borjas looks to defend his individual crown in the javelin, but will have stiff competition from the UCSB and LBSU athletes behind him.
Women
Defending Champion – Cal State Northridge
Sprints - To say Cal State Northridge's Deanna Goodwin is having a spectacular outdoor season might be an understatement. The defending 100-meter champion owns the top Big West time in the 100-,200, and 400-meter. Long Beach State athletes Patrice White and Jessica Branker are hot on her heels in the 100, while the duo is fourth and second, respectively, in the 200. Goodwin's main competition in the 400-meter dash could come from Cal State Fullerton which owns three of the top five times in the event.
Distance - UC Riverside's Brenda Martinez has had an excellent season in the distance races as evidenced by her Big West leading times in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter runs. UC Santa Barbara has continued its tradition of strong distance runners as it has the leader and defending champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (Bethany Nickless), 5,000-meter run (Stephanie Rothstein) and 10,000-meter run (Rothstein). The Gauchos hold at least two of the top three spots in each of those events.
Hurdles - The top spot in the 100-meter hurdles belongs to Dinah Clark of Cal State Fullerton, but Ashleigh McGrew of Cal State Northridge is right on her heels with a time that's .03 seconds behind Clark. UCR's Uchechi Egeonuigwe is the leader in the 400-meter hurdles, with Julie Eze (CSUN) and Jhana Samuels (CP) looking to challenge her for the crown after posting the second and third-best times, respectively.
Relays - Cal State Northridge continues its history of a strong relay contingent with leads in the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays. The defending 4x100 champion Matadors lead Long Beach State by .54 seconds, while CSUN boasts over a three second lead in the 4x400 over Cal State Fullerton.
Jumps - Several schools are represented at the top of the jumps as Long Beach State's Jill Reynolds is atop the pole vault, Candyce Babb leads a 1-2-3 showing by Cal State Northridge in the long jump, while UC Riverside's Alison Wilder is the top athlete in the triple jump. Cal Poly's Sharon Day, the 2005 national champion in the high jump, is back to reclaim her title in the event after redshirting a year ago.
Throws - UC Santa Barbara's Amy Haapanen has had her usual dominate season in the throwing events with the top spot in the shot put and hammer to go along with a #2 showing in the discus behind Long Beach State's Jennifer Onyeabako. The 49ers are also atop the javelin as Kim Heinz is the leader with teammate Alex Shaw not far behind.