2019 Track and Field Awards Release

Big West champions Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State topped the 2019 Big West Track and Field awards announcement, announced today via a vote of the conference’s nine head coaches.

Cal State Fullerton collected three of the eight major Big West awards, as MARCEL ESPINOZA was selected Men’s Track Athlete of the Year and SAMANTHA HUERTA the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year. JOHN ELDERS also earned Women’s Coach of the Year distinction. Long Beach State grabbed two of the marquee awards with KEMONIE BRIGGS designated the Men’s Field Athlete of the Year and ANDY SYTHE the Men’s Coach of the Year. Three additional schools also made the honor roll with UC Santa Barbara’s HOPE BENDER designated Women’s Field Athlete of the Year, as well as CSUN’s BASHIRU ABDULLAHI the Men’s Freshman of the Year and KIRSTEN CARTER of UC Davis the Women’s Freshman of the Year.

MARCEL ESPINOZA, CAL STATE FULLERTON
MEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Junior • Sprints • Santa Monica, Calif. • Santa Monica HS
• Second Titan to receive Men’s Track Athlete of the Year accolades (Darion Zimmerman, 2017)
• Garnered three first place finishes at the Big West Championships – 400 meters, 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay
• Broke his own school record in the 400m with a time of 45.87
• Became just the second 400m winner in conference meet history to run a sub-46 second race – Corey Nelson of Boise State (45.36) in 1999
• Ranks No. 8 in the West Region and No. 19 in the NCAA for the 400 meters
• Ran the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay which finished in a school record 3:08.48
• Helped the Titans win the 4x100 relay title for the fourth consecutive year (40.33)
• Posted 200 meters time of 21.13 to finish second at conference meet
• Named Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Week on two occasions – April 2 and April 15

SAMANTHA HUERTA, CAL STATE FULLERTON
WOMEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Junior • Distance • La Mirada, Calif. • La Mirada HS
• Second Titan to claim Women’s Track Athlete of the Year honors (Ciara Short, 2010 & 2011)
• Became the first CSF athlete to win double gold in the 800 and 1,500 meters at the Big West Championship
• Captured the 800 meter title for the second straight year, finishing in 2:04.81
• First CSF individual to win the 1,500 meters (4:30.66) in the 36th running of the conference meet
• Ran a school record 2:04.33 at the Titan Team Challenge on March 30 – that time currently ranks No. 8 in the West Region and No. 14 nationally
• Notched a school record 1,500 meter time (4:18.39) at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 17 - No. 25 on the TFRRS national list
• Earned Big West Women’s Track Athlete of the Week twice – March 19 and April 2

KEMONIE BRIGGS, LONG BEACH STATE
MEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Senior • Jumps • Long Beach, Calif. • Texas Tech
• Earned the second Men’s Field Athlete of the Year honor in his career (2017)
• Ensured that a Long Beach State representative won the award for the fifth straight year
• Made Big West history as the first four-time long jump winner at the conference championship
• Achieved a personal-best wind legal (+1.2) mark of 26-01.50 to win the long jump by 9 1/2 inches
• Enters the NCAA postseason ranked fourth regionally and 10th nationally in the long jump with the 26-01.50 mark
• Finished no worse than second in any long jump competition this season
• Tied for the championship high score in individual points (23) at the Big West Championship
• Picked up 10 points in the long jump (1st), 8 in the 400 meters (career-best 46.59) and 5 in the 200 meters (career-best 21.26)

HOPE BENDER, UC SANTA BARBARA
WOMEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Senior • Heptathlon • Newport Beach, Calif. • Newport Harbor HS
• Garnered her second straight Women’s Field Athlete of the Year accolade
• Shattered two Big West conference meet records on her home track last weekend – the heptathlon and 400 meter hurdles
• Scored 5,940 points to win the heptathlon for the second straight year, breaking the previous record of 5,709 points by U.S. Olympian and former Gaucho Barbara Nwaba (2012)
• Won four heptathlon events – 100 meter hurdles, shot put, 200 meters and long jump
• Finished first in the 400 meter hurdles with a conference meet record time of 56.64 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 57.69 by Cal Poly’s LeBren Martin (2003)
• Posted the No. 2 mark in school history (20-07.75) to capture long jump gold at the conference meet
• Became just the second Gaucho to win the long jump (Jodi Bailey, 1998) at the Big West Championship
• Added a second place finish in the 100 meter hurdles (13.46) to lead all competitors with 39 individual points at the Big West meet
• Ranked No. 3 nationally in both the heptathlon and 400 meter hurdles entering the NCAA postseason

BASHIRU ABDULLAHI, CSUN
MEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Hurdles • Benin City, Nigeria • Auntie Rose Secondary School
• Third Matador to be named Men’s Freshman of the Year, joining Reindell Cole (2007) and Carl Horsley (2011)
• Ran a career-best 13.80 in the 110 meter hurdles to win gold in the Big West Championship
• Posted the second fastest 110 hurdles time in school history
• Ranks No. 12 in the West Region and No. 28 nationally in the 110 hurdles
• Picked up additional points for CSUN at the conference meet with a seventh place finish in the 400 meter hurdles (53.99)
• Handled the third leg on CSUN’s runner-up 4x100 relay team, which finished in 40.91 seconds for eight team points
• Earned back-to-back Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Week honors on April 23 and 30

KIRSTEN CARTER, UC DAVIS
WOMEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Hurdles • Benin City, Nigeria • Auntie Rose Secondary School
• Became third UC Davis individual to be selected the conference’s top freshman – Holly Tokar (2014) and Kierra Davis (2017)
• Played key role in the team’s fourth place finish at the Big West Championship, scoring 16 individual points and contributing to 18 more in the relays
• Collected gold in the 400 meters with a career-best time of 53.85 seconds, moving to No. 2 on the UC Davis all-time list
• Became first Aggie to win the 400 at the conference meet since 2014 (Cekarri Nixon)
• First freshman to win the Big West 400 title since Maggie Vessey of Cal Poly in 2001
• Finished third in the 200 meters in 23.86 seconds
• Career-best finish of 23.73 in the 200 at the Bryan Clay Invitational ranks No. 2 on the school’s all-time list
• Helped the Aggies to a win in the 4x100 meter relay (45.21), the school’s second in three years at the Big West meet

ANDY SYTHE, LONG BEACH STATE
MEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR
30th Season
• Earned his eighth Big West Men’s Coach of the Year award, second most in league history
• Named Coach of the Year for the eighth time in the last 14 seasons – and fifth time in the last seven
• Guided Long Beach State to the program’s Big West record 11th conference title with 169.5 points
• Was at the helm for eight of the program’s 11 titles, all since 2006
• Four Beach competitors earned event gold at the Big West Championship, including Kemonie Briggs (long jump), Michael Simpson (3,000 meter steeplechase, Vincent Calhoun (high jump) and Charlie Vernoy (discus)
• Led Beach to a No. 8 ranking in the West Region according to the USTFCCCA, tops among Big West programs

JOHN ELDERS, CAL STATE FULLERTON
WOMEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR
31st Season
• Named Big West Women’s Coach of the Year for the first time
• Led Cal State Fullerton to its first conference championship after program’s best finish was fourth in 33 previous meets
• Guided team to 129.5 points, highest total in program history
• Achieved first women’s title on the heels of CSF’s first two men’s championships in 2017 and 2018
• Two Titans notched three first place medals at the Big West Championships, including Iesha Hamm (high jump) and Samantha Huerta (800 meters, 1,500 meters)
• Marked the first time in school history that a CSF athlete won the high jump and 1,500 meters at the Big West meet

The honorees turn their attention next to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field West Preliminary Round on Thursday, May 23 through Saturday, May 25 at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.  The meet will feature the top-48 student-athletes in each event.  

MEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR	WOMEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Marcel Espinoza, Cal State Fullerton	Samantha Huerta, Cal State Fullerton
MEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR	WOMEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Kemonie Briggs, Long Beach State	Hope Bender, UC Santa Barbara
MEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR	WOMEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Bashiru Abdullahi, CSUN	Kirsten Carter, UC Davis
MEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR	WOMEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR
Andy Sythe, Long Beach State	John Elders, Cal State Fullerton