The second day of the NCAA Track & Field Championships was met with better weather than day one as the competitors continued national championship dreams in the nation’s heartland. The Championships are being held at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The Outdoor Championships will also be televised as CBS Sports Network will air two days of the national meet. Friday night, CBSCSN will broadcast live from Drake Stadium between 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (PDT) before CBS Sports hits the air on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. (PDT) for a two-hour show.
Kicking things off in the field events was Reindell Cole of Cal State Northridge, who was looking to add All-American honors in the long jump to his stellar freshman season. Cole achieved the national honor after finishing 10th with a mark of 7.72 meters, completing an indoor-outdoor All-America sweep in the event.
In the women’s javelin, Cole’s fellow schoolmate Stephanie Ralls advanced to the finals after posting the 10th-best mark of the preliminaries at 50.43 meters. She will have a chance to claim All-America status in the finals Friday afternoon.
The last field event of the day featuring Big West athletes was the decathlon. Long Beach State’s Chris Richardson and Cal State Northridge’s Justin Johnson finished up the multi-event challenge in stellar form as Richardson collected 7,594 points for fifth place, while Johnson’s 7,256 points earned him 13th place.
To kick off the track events, Long Beach State’s Brent Gray had an excellent day in the 200 meter dash. Gray first posted a time of 20.88 to advance past the first round, then advanced to the finals after posting a 20.53 in the semifinal round. He will go for the crown tomorrow with a chance to claim All-America honors.
In the 110 hurdles, Big West champion Thomas Ross was unable to continue the momentum as he finished 21st with a time of 14.01 in the preliminary round.
The same fate be felled Ross’ counterpart on the women’s track team, Sherrina Lofton, in the 200-meter dash. Lofton was unable to advance after posting a time of 24.04 in the event.
In the last track event featuring a conference athlete, Brenda Martinez of UC Riverside continued her run of excellence this season with a finals qualifying time of 4:17.91 in the 1500-meter run.