After the first day of competition at the NCAA West Region Championships, several Big West athletes clinched or solidified their cases for inclusion in the NCAA Championship meet in June. The Regional Championship is being held at Matador Track on the campus of Cal State Northridge in Northridge, Calif.
In the field events, several athletes put forth excellent performances against the top competition in the region.
Chris Richardson of Long Beach State claimed an automatic spot in the NCAA Championships after recording a third place finish in the javelin with a toss of 68.45 meters (224-07).
The high jump featured another automatic NCAA qualifier for the Big West as Cal State Fullerton’s Jonathan Golden finished third with an effort of 2.11 meters (6-11). UC Davis’ Jah Bennett also had a solid effort with a seventh-place mark of 2.06 meters (6-09).
In the women’s discus, Long Beach State’s Katelyn Ciarelli reserved her spot in the NCAA Championships with a fifth place finish after a toss of 50.48 meters (165-07). UC Riverside’s Melissa Genisauski also picked up points for the Highlanders with her eighth place showing of 48.65 meters (159-07).
The men’s long jump also had a Big West athlete pick up points for his team as Reindell Cole narrowly missed an automatic NCAA qualifier with a sixth place finish. He recorded an effort of 7.48 meters (24-6.50).
Cole’s teammate Derek Moore picked up more points for the Matadors with his eighth place showing in the shot put. He finished the competition with a mark of 17.77 meters (58-3.75).
The preliminary track events were run during the first day as individual athletes and relay contingents attempted to advance to the finals the following day.
The first track event of the day was the 4x100 meter relay and Long Beach State’s foursome advanced to tomorrow’s final with a heat-winning effort of 39.97.
In the 1500-meter run, Cal Poly standout Evan Anderson advanced to the final with an effort of 3:47.55, the fourth-best time in his heat.
In the 110 hurdles, Big West champion Thomas Ross easily advanced to tomorrow’s final with his heat-winning time of 13.72. His time was the second best of all three heats, just .04 seconds behind Kevin Craddock of UCLA.
The 100-meter dash saw two women and four men from the Big West have a chance at tomorrow’s title. On the women’s side, Sherrina Lofton of Cal State Northridge (11.62) and Jessica Branker of Long Beach State (11.52) claimed spots in the final. The men’s race has two-time Big West champion Brent Gray of Long Beach State (10.40), Bradley Ike of Cal State Northridge (10.35), Tredale Tolver of Cal Poly (10.48) and Austin Fowler of Long Beach State (10.58) in the penultimate regional race.
The 400-meter dash saw Shelese Ruffin of Cal State Northridge claim a spot in the women’s final with an effort of 54.59, good for second in her heat and fourth overall.
The 800-meter run had one conference athlete advance to the final as Alex Freitas of Long Beach State finished with the sixth-best time in the event at 1:51.00.
The 200-meter dash had more Big West athletes still alive for the crown or automatic NCAA berths. The women’s race will move to a final tomorrow as Jessica Branker of Long Beach State and Sherrina Lofton of Cal State Northridge will compete in the championship run. Meanwhile in the men’s race, the Long Beach State duo of Brent Gray (21.27) and Austin Fowler (21.38) will race in the final.
The final event of the day saw a pair of UC Santa Barbara athletes claim automatic slots in the NCAA Championships. Chris Ashley (14:01.59) and Danielle Domenichelli (16:28.15) both finished their in their respective 5000-meter runs, claiming six points for the Gauchos in both the men’s and women’s standings.