DAY 2 RESULTS

TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

DAY 3 STREAM ON BIGWEST.TV

Through nine scored events, the Cal Poly women and Long Beach State men remain in front after day two of the Big West Track and Field Championships at UC Irvine’s Anteater Stadium.
 
The Mustangs lead the women’s standings with 82.5 points, ahead of second place UC Santa Barbara (55.5) and Cal State Fullerton in third (54.5). Host UC Irvine sits fourth with 36 points, while Long Beach State and UC Davis are tied for fifth at 34 apiece. Hawai‘i (21), CSUN (12), UC Riverside (11) and CSU Bakersfield (10.5) round out the list.
 
Four scoring events took place Friday – three field and one track – and the Titans won three of them to help them move from sixth place to third heading into Saturday’s final day of battle.
 
Senior Iesha Hamm started the festivities with her second consecutive win in the women’s high jump. The first two-time CSF champion in that event cleared a height of five feet, 9.25 inches to pick up 10 points.
 
Senior Naiah Boardingham turned in a tremendous effort to become the first Titan in school history to capture the long jump title. Boardingham’s mark of 20-10.50 was the best at a Big West meet since UNLV’s Shuntá Rose set the record in 1992 (21-09.50) – and the fourth-best winning mark in conference meet history. Boardingham also set a CSF program record with the leap.
 
The third Titan atop the medal stand was senior Sarah Hollis in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Hollis clocked 10:34.61 to win by nearly five seconds and become the first CSF champion in the event since 2010.
 
UC Davis junior Marlene Gutierrez won the shot put with a throw of 47 feet, 11.25 inches to become the school’s first champion in the event since Chidinma Onyewuenyi 10 years ago. She’s also the first Aggie thrower to win a Big West title since Ashley Hearn claimed the discus title in 2012.
 
Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara are separated by just 11 points heading into the final day of the men’s competition.
 
The Beach lead with 98 points. The Gauchos have 87 points, while Cal Poly (55) and Cal State Fullerton (47) are third and fourth, respectively. UC Irvine is in fifth place with 27 points. Rounding out the standings are UC Davis in sixth (18), UC Riverside (9), CSUN (7) and CSU Bakersfield (3).
 
LBSU senior Jason Smith highlighted the field events on Friday. Smith became just the second individual in Big West meet history to win both the high jump and long jump in the same year, joining Cal State Fullerton’s Brandon Campbell (2001) in the exclusive club.
 
In the high jump, Smith cleared the bar at a height of 7 feet, 1.5 inches on his first attempt, the best winning mark at the conference championship since 2012. Teammate Porte Joie Tshiaba finished second at 7-00.25 as the Beach accumulated 18 points overall.
 
Smith returned later that afternoon and wasted no time putting forth a winning mark. On his first attempt, he jumped 25 feet, 1.25 inches which held up the remainder of the competition, as Smith passed on four of the next five rounds. Beach jumpers have won gold for six consecutive years in that event.
 
UC Irvine junior Kyle Tsu won the shot put with a personal-best 59-05.5 that moved him to No. 2 on the school’s all-time list. He led wire-to-wire in becoming UCI’s third shot put champion, joining Mason Miller (2015) and Mike Morales (1989, 1990).
 
UC Santa Barbara cleaned up in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, as four Gauchos combined for 20 points. Senior Nick Randazzo earned 10 of those by shattering his personal-best by 15 seconds to win in a time of 9 minutes, 1.86 seconds ahead of Ryman Crone of UC Davis and Bobby Brana of Cal State Fullerton. The Gauchos have won the steeplechase eight times in the last 14 years.
 
The men and women competed in more preliminary events on Friday as well.
 
In the 100 meter hurdles, CSUN’s Brisa Guzman-Sanchez led a contingent of eight finalists in 13.69 seconds. The top qualifier in the men’s 110 meter hurdles was Anthony Easter of UC Davis in 14.29.
 
Four Cal Poly representatives advanced to the finals in the women’s 400 meters led by top qualifier Anisa Rind, who finished in 56.89 seconds. The leader in the men’s 400 was Matthew Okonkwo of UC Davis. Okonkwo’s time was 47.56.
 
Cal State Fullerton’s Hailey Murdica ran the fastest qualifying time in the women’s 100 meters with a career-best 11.83. Chineme Allison of Cal Poly posted the fastest time on the men’s side in 10.65.
 
Two-time women’s 800 meter champion Samantha Huerta looks for a third straight title on Saturday. The senior won her heat in 2:11.06 for the fastest qualifying time in what shapes up to be a competitive final. Five others finished within a second of Huerta’s time.
 
UC Santa Barbara’s Jimmy Chahal took the top time in the men’s 800 meters in 1:51.18.
 
Saturday’s action begins at 11:00 a.m. with the men’s triple jump. The first event on the track is the women’s 4x100 meter relay at noon.
 
All of the action will be streamed live on BigWest.TV.