| 2023 Big West Track & Field Championships - Multi-Events Day 1 |
Fullerton, Calif. -- The 2023 Big West Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Championships started with the first day of the decathlon and heptathlon competitions, Saturday at Titan Track & Field Stadium.
UC Santa Barbara’s Brad Thomas leads the decathlon field after five events with 3935 points. Thomas hit personal bests in four events and won three on the first day of the 10-event competition. Cal State Fullerton’s Andrew Aguilar, last year’s decathlon champion, trails in second with 3786 points and UC Santa Barbara’s Matthew Molina sits in third with 3658 points.
Long Beach State’s Hailey Fune’ sits in pole position amongst the heptathlon competition with 3314 points. Fune’ recorded lifetime bests in three events and won two. UC Santa Barbara’s Jessica Swalve, the reigning heptathlon champion, trails Fune’ in second with 3100 points. UC Irvine’s Jolie Robinson is in third with 3081 points.
The decathletes day started with the 100, with UC Irvine’s Max Daniels winning the event in 11.05. It was the only competition Daniels participated in, scratching all four other events of the day. Aguilar and Thomas both achieved personal bests in the event, crossing the line in 11.09 and 11.18, respectively.
Thomas won the long jump with a personal-record distance of 6.98m/22’10.75”, the shot put with a lifetime-best throw of 14.35m/47’1” and high jump with a personal-best clearance of 1.96m/6’5”. Thomas’ Gaucho teammate Matthew Molina tied for first in the high jump with an identical mark of 1.96m/6’5”. Aguilar made up some ground in the 400, finishing in 49.04, while Thomas ran 50.59.
Fune’ started the heptathlon by winning the 100 hurdles with a time of 13.60, just 0.1 shy of tying a personal record. The Beach junior made it 2-for-2 in event wins, topping the high jump competition with a mark of 1.73m/5’8”.
Swalve closed the gap with a victory in the shot put with a mark of 13.56m/44’6”. Long Beach State’s Sofia Bailey took first in the 200, crossing the line in 25.23. Samantha Gordon of Hawai’i was second at 25.43, and Fune’ gained valuable points with a third-place finish with a time of 25.66.
Day two of the decathlon and heptathlon challenge will begin on Saturday at 12 and 12:30 p.m., respectively. The heptathlon events left are the long jump, javelin throw and 800. The remaining decathlon events are the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500.