DAY 1 RESULTS

TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

DAY 2 STREAM ON BIGWEST.TV

The Cal Poly women and Long Beach State men lead the standings after day one of the 2021 Big West Track and Field Championships at UC Irvine’s Anteater Stadium.
 
Both schools had great success in the field events to forge early leads. Through five scored events, Cal Poly is in front with 71.5 points on the women’s side, while Long Beach State is the men’s leader with 58.
 
Mustang representatives won the women’s pole vault and hammer throw to pick up 10 points apiece. Junior Brooke Tjerrild became the first three-time pole vault champion in Big West history, achieving the feat with a conference meet record clearance of 13 feet, 11 inches. Tjerrild broke former Mustang Paula Serrano’s mark of 13 feet, 7 inches that had stood since 1999.
 
The Mustangs picked up 25.5 points in the pole vault alone as five individuals scored in the event, including second place finisher Kayla Myers who had a personal-best mark of 13-07.00.
 
In addition, senior Emily Hallett finished first with her toss of 192-11 in the hammer. Cal Poly earned eight more points in the javelin thanks to Paige Hansen’s second place showing (128-03).
 
Winner in the javelin was Long Beach State junior Hannah Katches with a mark of 137-00.
 
UC Irvine junior Hannah Chau posted the third-fastest winning time in Big West history in the 10,000 meters. The first Anteater to win the event at the conference meet since 2002, Chau ran the race in a career-best 34:53.13, which moved her up to fourth on the school’s all-time list.
 
Cal Poly again added to its point total as Sierra Brill finished second in the 10,000 in 35:28.29, good for eight more points.
 
UC Santa Barbara is second in the women’s standings with 28 points. LBSU is third (18.5) and UC Irvine is fourth (18). UC Davis (17.5), Cal State Fullerton (13), Big West newcomer CSU Bakersfield (10.5), Hawai‘i (9), UC Riverside (5) and CSUN (4) round out the teams.
 
LBSU got off to a head start in its quest to defend the men’s title. The Beach scored in all three field events – pole vault, hammer, javelin – finishing at least one competitor in the top three.
 
Alec Jones took gold in the hammer with his throw of 200 feet even. He is the fourth Beach representative to win the event in the last six years. Charlie Vernoy finished second at 193-04 for eight more points. In total, LBSU accrued 29 points in that one event.
 
UC Davis junior Jered Espanola repeated as champion in the pole vault. He cleared 17 feet, 1 inch to total 10 points for the Aggies. He is the first UC Davis pole vaulter to win back-to-back events at the conference championship.
 
LBSU added eight points to its total as Michael Magula placed second with his mark of 16-07.25.
 
Chase Tarr continued UC Santa Barbara’s domination in the javelin. The Gaucho sophomore took gold with a winning toss of 218 feet, 11 inches, becoming the fifth different UCSB winner in the last six championship meets.

LBSU had two javelin throwers score points, including third place finisher Marcos Gonzalez (198-01).
 
Both UCSB and Cal Poly made a push up the standings in the final event – the 10,000 meters. The Gauchos finished one-two as Garrett Reynolds outkicked teammate Brian Schulz down the stretch to win in 32:08.29, just .17 seconds ahead of Schulz. UCSB gained 20 points in total as Zachary Parker crossed the line in seventh. Cal Poly’s trio of Jake Ritter, Spencer Thurman and John Bennett placed third, fourth and sixth to give the Mustangs a 14-point bump.
 
As a result, UCSB moved to within seven points of LBSU, ending with 52 heading into day two of the men’s championship. Cal Poly is third with 39 points and Cal State Fullerton fourth at 15. UC Davis (10), UC Riverside (9), UC Irvine (8) and CSU Bakersfield (3) round out the standings.

The men and women also competed in a handful of preliminary events.

In the 400 meter hurdles, Cal State Fullerton's Maya Occiano led a group of eight advancing to the finals with a top time of 1:01.81. On the men's side, Cal Poly's Bikram Thiara posted a season-best 52.63 as the best time among the two heats.

UC Irvine senior Kayla Richardson posted the fastest time in the 200 meters (24.07) to advance to Saturday's final, while the men's leader was Matthew Okonkwo of UC Davis. His time was 21.41 seconds.
 
Day two action begins Friday at 10:00 a.m. with the women’s high jump. The first event on the track is the women’s 100 meter hurdles prelims at 4:30 p.m.

The women conducted a 1,500 meter prelim as six competitors finished within a second of each other. In what anticipates to be an intriguing final, UC Santa Barbara's Astrid Rosvall produced the fastest time in 4:35.17.
 
Fans can view all the action on BigWest.TV.