FINAL RESULTS
For the third time in four years – and the final time in the 33-year head coaching career of
John Elders – Cal State Fullerton captured the Big West Men’s Track and Field Championship.
The Titans won in dramatic fashion with a final total of 163 points. Trailing Cal Poly by one point entering the 4x400 relay, CSF turned in a season-best time of 3:11.93 for 10 points and the winning tally.
Paris Samaniego,
Rasaun House,
Justin Lowe and
Charles Kelly provided the finishing touches for Elders, who will retire after the season. Kelly took the baton in third place on the anchor leg and got to the line first.
Kelly was outstanding for the Titans as he recorded a pair of event victories and broke two school records in the process. Kelly became the first Titans since 2002 to win both the 110 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles. In the 110, he finished in 14.10 seconds to break the school record he just set two weeks ago. Less than two hours later, Kelly returned to erase a 20-year old CSF mark with a time of 51.23 in the 400 meter hurdles.
Cal Poly finished in second place for the ninth time in school history, posting 157 points. The Mustangs had several top three finishes across multiple events. Highlighting the afternoon was
Justin Robison’s victory in the 1500, his 3:44.68 effort the fastest winning time at the Big West meet since 2012.
Long Beach State also was in the title hunt until the end, coming in third place with 152 points. The Beach won six of 21 events overall, including two more on Saturday. They opened the track portion with a victory in the 4x100 relay, the program’s first at the conference meet since 2008.
Faris Babineaux,
Kent Harris,
Justin Watterson and
Jason Smith were clocked at 40.96 seconds.
In addition,
Alec Jones added the discus title to his first place finish in the hammer, finishing with a winning toss of 189 feet, 10 inches.
UC Santa Barbara completed the meet in fourth place with 137 points. The Gauchos earned two golds on Saturday.
Garrett Reynolds became the first Gaucho since Chris Ashley in 2008 to double in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. After taking home the 10,000 title on Thursday, Reynolds posted the second-fastest winning time in conference meet history, traversing the 5000 in 14 minutes, 7.6 seconds. He was less than four seconds off the meet record.
UCSB finished one-two in the 800 meters with
Jimmy Chahal and
Jarett Chinn picking up 18 points in the event. Chahal nipped Chinn at the finish, posting a time of 1:51.10.
UC Davis had 92 points for fifth place. The Aggies mopped up points in the sprints with victories in the 100, 200 and 400 meters.
Benjamin Goodwin crossed the line in 10.67 seconds to become the first Aggie to win the event since 2014.
Matthew Okonkwo wrote history for the Aggies as he became the program’s first to double in the 200 and 400. After winning the 400 in 47.26 seconds, he blazed to a career-best 21.23 in the 200. Okonkwo is the first Aggie to win the 200.
UC Irvine came in sixth place with 66 points. CSUN and UC Riverside tied for seventh with 22 points, and CSU Bakersfield was ninth with three points.
CSUN’s
Mathieu Tshani was the triple jump champion with a career-best mark of 51-05.50.
Okonkwo was named the Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet. Long Beach State senior
Jason Smith earned Men’s Field Athlete of the Meet distinction as both the high jump and triple jump champion, and the anchor on the winning 4x100 relay team.
Next up for the Big West is the NCAA West Preliminary Round, which will take place from May 26-29 at Texas A&M. The field, comprised of Top 48 individuals per event west of Mississippi, will be announced on Thursday, May 20 at 10 a.m. PT on NCAA.com.