Three of the four Big West Track and Field weekly award winners claimed personal-best marks in meet competition.
CSUN freshman Bashiru Abdullahi (Benin City, Nigeria/Auntie Rose Secondary School) earned his first career Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Week honor as he set a personal-best time in the 110 meter hurdles at the Long Beach Intercollegiate. He ran the event in a time of 13.87 to finish second overall. Abdullahi’s performance was the third-fastest in school history. He ranks No. 1 in the Big West, and 11th in the West Region for the 110m hurdles. Abdullahi also competed in the 4x100 relay with Jaloni West, Parker Caston Jr. and Omari Williams, placing fifth with a season-best time of 41.47.
Long Beach State senior Courtne’ Davis (Riverside, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt HS) notched Big West Women’s Track Athlete of the Week accolades for the fifth time in her decorated career after a strong showing on her home turf. The sprinter was the No. 2 collegiate finisher in both the 100 and 200 meter events that featured 94 competitors in the 100m and 98 in the 200m at the 25th Beach Invitational. She finished second overall in the 100 in 11.42 seconds (+2.6) and fourth overall in the 200 in 23.46 (+1.5). Davis extended her conference lead to a margin of .22 seconds in the 100m and .27 seconds in the 200m. Davis also participated in the 4x100 relay at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate. The quartet of Davis, Samaya Brandon, Madison Golden and Azaria Hill ran the event in 45.27 seconds, their second-fastest time of the season. Davis is No. 1 in the Big West in all three events, and No. 14 in the West Region in the 100m.
UC Santa Barbara senior Tyler Nelson (San Diego, Calif./Texas Tech) set a personal-best in the decathlon to collect Big West Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors. Nelson won his decathlon event group at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a score of 7,254 points. Nelson set personal-bests in the long jump (23-0, 7.01m), 400 meters (48.64), 110 meter hurdles (14.51) and pole vault (14-05.25, 4.40m) as part of his standout efffort at the prestigious meet. He ranks No. 2 in the Big West and 19th nationally in the decathlon.
Competing in the top heptathlon group at the Bryan Clay Invitational, UC Santa Barbara senior Hope Bender (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Beach HS) secured her second career Big West Women’s Field Athlete of the Week award with a personal-best performance. She beat her previous best score in the heptathlon by 215 points for a total of 5,725. She turned in career-best performances in the 200 meters (24.03), javelin (125-08, 38.3m) and long jump (20-03.50, 6.18m). Bender is No. 1 in the Big West for the heptathlon and third nationally. Her point total is No. 2 in school history, just narrowly behind Olympian Barbara Nwaba.
Others nominated (Men’s Track): Jake Ritter (Cal Poly); Anthony Alfaro (Cal State Fullerton); Koty Burton (Long Beach State); Alex Barr (UC Santa Barbara)
Others nominated (Women’s Track): Katie Izzo (Cal Poly); Samantha Huerta (Cal State Fullerton); Immanuela Aliu (CSUN); Kirsten Carter (UC Davis); Katie Camarena (UC Santa Barbara); Kristen LaCosse (Hawai‘i)
Others nominated (Men’s Field): Bailey Thayer (Cal Poly); Clint Meyer (CSUN); Nico Hudson (Long Beach State); Kyle Clancy (UC Davis)
Others nominated (Women’s Field): Abibat Rahman-Davies (Cal Poly); Ty Wallace (CSUN); Erinn Beattie (UC Davis)