2012 Outdoor Track & Field Season Gets Underway: This weekend marks the first full weekend of competition for the 2012 Big West Track & Field outdoor season and the UC Davis Aggies have the honor of kicking off the new year. They are scheduled to compete in the Chico State Multi Classic Thursday, March 1 and Friday March 2.
Anteaters Host Season-Opening Meet: The UC Irvine men’s and women’s track & field teams are gearing up for the annual All-UC Meet. The one-day event slated for Saturday, March 3 will feature fellow Big West foes UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara. The Gaucho men and women swept last year’s event.
Long Beach State Gears Up For Beach Classic: The Long Beach State track & field program opens the 2012 season hosting the Beach Classic on March 2-3 at Cerritos College. The hammer event is slated for Friday, with the remainder of the events taking place all day Saturday. This week’s event is the first of two home meets for the 49ers this year.
New Face At Helm Of Northridge Track & Field Program: Avery Anderson, who for the last seven years has been a major contributor to one of the Big West Conference’s most prolific track & field programs, was named head track and field coach at Cal State Northridge last summer. Anderson succeeds Don Strametz who retired after 31 years as the head coach of the women’s team and 26 at the helm of the men’s program.
During the past seven seasons, the Matadors have won 11 conference championships including six Big West Women’s Outdoor Championships. In addition, The CSUN men have won four Big West Outdoor titles since Anderson began his second stint on the coaching staff in 2005.
Since arriving at Northridge, Anderson has helped the Matador track & field program to unprecedented levels of success. He has coached two NCAA Champions including 2007 NCAA Outdoor Long Jump Champion DaShalle Andrews who became the first individual men’s NCAA Champion in school history. The following spring, Anderson made it back-to-back NCAA Long Jump champions as freshman Reindell Cole won the 2008 NCAA Indoor title.
Big West Track & Field Chamionship Returns to Irvine: For the second consecutive year the Big West Track & Field Championships takes place at Anteater Stadium on the campus of UC Irvine. The 2012 championship begins with the multi championships (decathlon/heptathlon) on May 4 & 5 and is followed by the remainder of the events taking place May 11-12.
Last year, The Long Beach State men and Cal State Northridge women proved to be too tough for the competition as the two clubs took home their respective Big West Track & Field Titles. The 49ers won the league meet for the first time since 2008 and won their sixth title overall. LBSU amassed 177.50 points for the championship, outdistancing UC Davis which had 156 points. Cal Poly was third with 131 points, while UC Santa Barbara stands in fourth with 116.5 points. Fifth belongs to Cal State Northridge with 80 points, with host UC Irvine (79), UC Riverside (54) and Cal State Fullerton (25) complete the men’s standings.
The Matadors claimed their sixth consecutive championship and now own a league-record eight overall. CSUN’s championship defense had it post 165.5 points, with UC Santa Barbara coming in second with 126 tallies. UC Davis was third with 105 points, while Long Beach State (98.5), UC Riverside (97) and Cal Poly (88) are bunched in fourth through sixth. UC Irvine’s 75 points and Cal State Fullerton’s 61 points wrap up the women’s standings.
All-Academic Accolades for Cal Poly: Cal Poly freshman Meghan Breadmore earned USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition as one of the top academic and athletic student-athletes in 2011.
The kinesiology major and San Diego native qualified with a 17th place finish, covering the Stanford 6k course in a time of 20:45, in Octorber, qualifying for the NCAA Championships where she finished 146th and a time fo 21:22.
Breadmore rounded out her season with four top-10 finishes and a fourth place at the Big West Championships.
Irvine’s Jock Honored by San Diego Hall of Champions: UC Irvine two-time track All-American Charles Jock was recognized at the San Diego Hall of Champions’ 66th annual Salute to the Champions Dinner Wednesday, February 15 at the Town and Country Resort Hotel.
Jock, a senior at UCI, is one of the honorees in the 2011 Amateur Stars of the Year.
He earned a berth on the U.S. team for the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, last August following his performance in the 800 meters at the USA Track & Field Championships June 26. In the final, Jock led for the first 700 meters and held on to finish third with a school-record time of 1:44.67, breaking his own school mark of 1:44.75 he set at the NCAA Championships earlier in June.
The San Diego Hall of Champions recognizes amateur, collegiate and professional sports excellence of San Diego’s athletes. Jock is a graduate of Mission Bay High School.