The second and final day of the West Region Championships came to a close Saturday as Big West track & field athletes moved one step closer to the NCAA Championships in two weeks. The West Region Championships were held at Matador Track on the campus of Cal State Northridge in Northridge, Calif.
In the men’s standings, Long Beach State finished in a tie for ninth with 39 points to lead all Big West schools. Cal State Northridge was 13th with 24 tallies, while Cal State Fullerton collected 11 points for 17th place. UC Santa Barbara was 19th with 10 points, Cal Poly tied for 20th with five points, while UC Davis rounded out the conference scoring with 1.5 points in 25th place.
Cal State Northridge finished as the highest scoring Big West women’s team with 31 points for a tie for eighth place. Long Beach State was 13th with 12 points, while Cal Poly (10) and UC Riverside (9) finished in 15th and 16th place, respectively. UC Santa Barbara was 20th six points, while UC Irvine rounded out the scoring in a tie for 26th with two points.
In the field events, the first athlete to claim a spot in the NCAA meet was Stephanie Ralls of Cal State Northridge. The sophomore finished second in the javelin with a toss of 49.04 meters (160-11), clinching an automatic spot in the event at the national championships.
In the women’s high jump, a familiar face finished atop the leaderboard as Cal Poly’s Sharon Day claimed the regional crown with an effort of 1.87 meters (6-1.50). She returns to the NCAA meet in the event she was won the national championship in 2004. She will have another Big West competitor in the event at the NCAA meet as Desirae Gonder of Cal State Northridge clinched an automatic spot in the field thanks to her fourth place finish. Gonder recorded a mark of 1.76 meters (5-9.25).
The men’s discus had another Big West athlete claim points for his team as Derek Cooper of Cal State Northridge finished seventh with a toss of 56.23 meters (184-06). He will await word on whether he will be given an at-large berth into the NCAA field.
Two conference athletes advanced to the NCAA Championships in the triple jump as Dashalle Andrews of Cal State Northridge and Garrett Myers of Cal State Fullerton claimed automatic slots in the field. Andrews finished second with a stellar effort of 15.98 meters (52-5.25), while Myers wrapped up his day in the fourth position after recording a mark of 15.53 meters (50-11.50).
Allison Wilder of UC Riverside finished in the top eight of the women’s triple jump as the Highlander sophomore recorded an effort of 12.46 meters (40-10.50). In the final field event of the day, UC Irvine’s Alishia Misiaita finished seventh in the shot put with an effort of 15.42 meters (50-7.25). Both athletes will await word on at-large invites to the NCAA Championships.
In the track events, the day belonged to Brent Gray of Long Beach State as the Big West champion in the 100 and 200 also claimed both those events at the Regional Championship. Gray blazed to a school-record time of 10.39 in the 100, and topped the field in the 200 with an effort of 20.67. Gray also helped the LBSU 4x100-meter relay contingent claim an automatic berth into the NCAA meet with a third place finish. The 49ers completed the relay in 40.18 seconds.
In the women’s 200, Cal State Northridge’s Sherrina Lofton advanced to the NCAA Championships with her fourth place finish in 23.88. Long Beach State’s Jessica Branker will have to wait to see if her sixth place showing in 24.36 will garner her an invite to the NCAA field.
The women’s 4x100 relay saw the Cal State Northridge squad just miss an automatic qualifier with a fifth place finish. The Matador foursome will have to wait to see if its time of 45.35 will merit an at-large invite to the national championships. Long Beach State’s women’s team finished just behind CSUN in sixth with a time of 45.64.
The 1500-meter run saw one automatic qualifier for the Big West as Brenda Martinez of UC Riverside clinched a spot at NCAAs with a third place finish in the women’s race after crossing the finish in 4:17.09. Teammate Lisa Lopez also picked up points for UCR as she finished eighth with a time of 4:26.37. In the men’s race, Evan Anderson of Cal Poly finished sixth with a time of 3:45.03, narrowly missing an automatic bid to the national meet.
Thomas Ross of Cal State Northridge added to the Matador contingent at the NCAAs as he finished fourth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.80. Joining him will be teammate Bradley Ike who finished fourth in the 100 with a time of 10.57.
In the 800-meter run, Alex Freitas of Long Beach State narrowly missed automatically qualifying for the NCAA meet with a sixth place finish in 1:49.92.