Friday's Results |
Saturday's Meet Program
Through Friday's competition, the Long Beach State men and Cal State Fullerton women own first place in the Big West Track and Field Championships at Pauley Track.
LBSU has 64.5 points and host UC Santa Barbara is second with 45. UC Davis is third with 30 points, followed by Cal Poly (27), Cal State Fullerton and CSUN (23) in a tie for fifth, UC Irvine (14) and UC Riverside (8).
The Beach are seeking their fifth men's title in seven years.
CSF is in the lead on the women's side by the slightest of margins. The Titans collected 61.5 points, just a half-point ahead of UCSB with 61. Cal Poly is close behind in third place with 55 points. UC Davis (36.5), Long Beach State (26), UC Irvine (21), Hawai‘i (19), UC Riverside (18) and CSUN (14) round out the standings.
The Titans are attempting to win their first women's title while the Gauchos are seeking their second – and first since 2005.
The majority of Friday's scoring occurred in the field events, which had no shortage of impressive performances.
• Erick Loomis of CSUN won the men’s hammer for the second straight year. After taking gold in 2018 (210-03), he returned with a winning mark of 217-11. He ranks 15th in the country with a season-best mark of 224-06.
• Hope Bender of UC Santa Barbara notched the women’s long jump title with a career-best and school record mark of 20-07.75. It was the furthest jump by a conference meet winner since 2005.
• Brooke Tjerrild of Cal Poly captured women’s pole vault gold for the second straight year, clearing 13-03 and improving upon her 2018 winning distance of 13-01.50.
• Kemonie Briggs of Long Beach State became the Big West’s first four-time men’s long jump champion. He won the event with a top mark of 26-01.50, just off his school record distance of 26-02.75.
• CSUN freshman Stella Weinberg broke the Big West overall and conference meet record in the women’s javelin with a mark of 177-10. She smashed the previous record of 162-04 by Long Beach State’s Randi Hicks in 2010 and CSUN's Sammie Freeman in 2002. Weinberg already established a new overall Big West record earlier this season when she registered a mark of 178-08 at the Stanford Invitational.
• CSUN senior Clint Meyer broke the school record in the shot put with a throw of 63-02.75. It is the farthest throw by a Big West meet champion since 2002.
• Cal State Fullerton sophomore Iesha Hamm pulled off an upset of sorts, beating out UC Davis senior Erinn Beattie, the nation’s No. 2-ranked performer in the women’s high jump. Hamm became the first Titan to win the event in Big West meet history (since 1984), posting a school record mark of 5 feet, 11.25 inches.
• UC Irvine senior Barbara Coward earned two-time gold in the women’s discus. She improved upon her winning mark of 167-07 in 2018 with a heave of 180-09.
There also were four distance track events that were scored on Friday.
• Long Beach State junior Michael Simpson broke the school record in the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase with a winning time of 8:52.25. He’s the first from the school since 1976 to win the event at the conference meet.
• UC Santa Barbara junior Katie Camarena earned the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase title in 10:34.21. She’s the first Gaucho since Bethany Nickless (2006, 2007) to win the event.
• UC Santa Barbara sophomore Nick Randazzo turned in one of the more exciting finishes with his win in the men’s 10,000 meters. Randazzo ran a scorching 59.4 second final lap to overtake the opposition, including Cal Poly sophomore Jake Ritter, who finished less than a second behind for runner-up. Randazzo finished with a time of 30:49.22.
• Cal Poly senior Miranda Daschian also made a late surge to win the women’s 10,000 meters in 35:14.42. She held off three others for the crown, including teammate Peyton Bilo, a former champion in the event who was running her first 10,000 since taking home the conference meet title as a freshman in 2016.
Fifteen men's events and 13 women's will be scored on Saturday to determine this year's team champions. Long Beach State senior Courtne' Davis is attempting to win her second gold in the 100 meters and third in the 200 meters. She was the top finisher in both events during Friday's prelims. Attempting to win her third straight title in the 400 meter hurdles, UCSB sophomore Hope Bender was first in her heat and second overall in the prelims.