May 16, 2008
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -
Cal State Northridge leads both the men's and women's competitions heading into the final day of the 2008 Big West Track & Field Championships at the Matador Track & Field Complex.
The Northridge women, behind a sweep of the top three spots in the hammer throw, hold a 14-point cushion heading into Saturday's final day of competition. The Matador men, who went 1-2-3 in the long jump, hold a slim 69-62 lead over second-place Long Beach State heading into Saturday.
"I think the big thing is that, event-by-event, we've got to keep plugging away," said Matador head coach Don Strametz. "Basically it was a pretty good day, a couple of spots could have been a little bit better, but that's track. We'll see what we can do tomorrow."
The day began for the Matador men at North Campus Stadium as Northridge claimed three of the top four spots as Cody Pearce (58.04) took second, Nick Saylor (a career-best 57.49) third and Alex Butler (54.26) was fourth to give the Matadors 19 points in the event.
During the afternoon, Northridge dominated the long jump as freshman Reindell Cole jumped 7.67 to claim his first Big West Championship. Senior DaShalle Andrews (7.42) was second and fellow senior Thomas Ross (7.27) was third. Robert Robinson (7.00) also finished sixth as the Matadors picked up 27 points in the long jump.
Northridge also picked up five points from Thomas Johnson (season-best 2.05) and two points from Owen Morse (career-best 1.90) in the high jump and four points from Robinson in the javelin (53.90). In addition the Matador men advanced eight athletes into Saturday running finals.
Bradley Ike qualfied for the finals in both the 100 and 200 meters, while Ross and Cole also make the 100 final. In the 200,
Kenjamine Jackson and Cole both join Ike in the final while
Kevin Nious rill run the 400 meter final on Saturday. Ross also posted the fastest time in the 110 hurdles running a blistering lifetime-best 13.65 which is just .05 off the Big West Championships record.
On the women's side, the Matadors used a convincing performance in the hammer and Krystal Quinn's Big West Championship record in the pole vault to jump to the 14-point lead.
In the women's hammer, it was a dominating effort by Northridge as the Matador contingent collected 28 points. Raquel Sola (57.79), Tatiana Crochet (57.17) and Morgan Bogard (55.49) went 1-2-3 in the event for Cal State Northridge, while Jessica Beach's (52.04) fifth-place finish capped the scoring for the Matadors.
The Matadors claimed another individual title in the next field event as Quinn took home the crown in the women's pole vault with a mark of 3.85 meters. Her NCAA Regional qualifying effort was .15 meters better than second place Jenna Homes (3.70m) of Cal Poly as well as a Big West Championships record.
Shelese Ruffin and Stephanie Ralls also posted second place finishes on Friday as Ruffin was the runner-up in the long jump and Ralls in the javelin. Ruffin matched her season-best of 5.97 and Ralls eclipsed her lifetime-best with a throw of 47.21.
The women's long jump was next and Cal Poly's Sharon Day added another individual crown to her 2008 haul with a first place finish in the event. The heptathlon champion put forth an effort of 5.98 meters, edging out the effort of 5.97 meters that second place Shelese Ruffin of Cal State Northridge put forth.
In the women's end of the javelin competition, Alex Shaw of Long Beach State won her second consecutive title with a mark of 48.68 meters, an NCAA Regional qualifying mark.
Also scoring for the Northridge women on Friday were Lilyana Morejon who finished fifth in the 10,000 meters in a time of 37:24.16.
The Matador women also advanced Sherrina Lofton, Dominique Calvin, Cristal Steen and Shaleisha Mitchell to the 100 meter final, Tara Prier, Lofton, Ruffin and Calvin to the 200 final and Ruffin and Prier to the 400 final.
The Championships will conclude tomorrow with the field events set to begin at noon and the track finals set to commence at 3:30 p.m., at Matador Track on the campus of Cal State Northridge.
- GO MATADORS -
