May 17, 2008

Big West Championships Final Results

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The Cal State Northridge women continued their domination of the Big West Outdoor Championship as the Matadors claimed their third consecutive team championship while Northridge finished second to Long Beach State on the men's side on Saturday at the Matador Track & Field Complex.

The Northridge women scored 189 points and finished well ahead of second place UC Riverside (143). Cal Poly (126) finished third followed by Long Beach State (110.5), Cal State Fullerton (89.5), UC Santa Barbara (60), UC Davis (59) and UC Irvine (42).

The Matadors and 49ers battled all day on the men's side and the two teams were tied with three events to go on Saturday. But Long Beach scored 25 points in the 200 meters then won the 4x400 relay to pull away. The 49ers wound up with 185 points, followed by the Matadors with 159 points. Cal Poly (116) was third followed UC Santa Barbara (91.5), UC Irvine (83), Cal State Fullerton (77.5), UC Davis (70) and UC Riverside (36) completed the scoring on the men's side.

The day began well for the Matadors as Alex Butler (17.80) and Derek Cooper (17.42) went 1-2 in the men's shot put while Mike Tull (15.28) was eighth put to pick up 19 points. In the women's discus, Morgan Bogard finished sixth with a throw of 45.85 to earn three points. Stella Dugall rounded out the morning field events with a fifth place finish in the women's triple jump at 12.15.

In the men's discus, Derek Cooper improved on his second place finish in the Big West last season by claiming the crown with a throw of 54.56 meters. Tull also earned three points with a sixth-place finish after throwing 49.12.

In the men's triple jump, senior DaShalle Andrews jumped a season-best 15.67 but finished second to Cal State Fullerton's Garret Myers (15.75). Jonathan Moore also scored for Northridge as he placed seventh at 14.68.

Anthony Orozco vaulted 4.60 to finish seventh in the men's pole vault to add two points to the Matador cause.

The field events wound down with the women's high jump as sophomore Desirae Gonder looked to upset Cal Poly's Sharon Day. Despite jumping a lifetime-best 1.84, Gonder took second as Day cleared the bar at an amazing 1.95 meters. Day set the Cal Poly record, Big West Championships record, Big West Conference record and Matador Complex record with her jump. Day's height is also believed to be the third best effort in the world this season.

On the track on Saturday, the Matadors enjoyed similar success after the events were pushed back to avoid running in 100+ degree heat.

The Matador women claimed the 4x100 relay final as Shaleisha Mitchell, Sherrina Lofton, Tara Prier and Shelese Ruffin finished just ahead of the Long Beach State women in a time of 45.00. The Matador men (Kenjamine Jackson, Bradley Ike, Kevin Nious and Reindell Cole) ran a blistering 40.01 but finished second to Long Beach State who clocked an impressive 39.66.

In the 1,500 meters Tawei Ma ran a season-best 4:05.88 to take 11th place.

The Matadors then turned to the hurdles as they looked to build on their scoring lead. Senior Ashleigh McGrew turned in a time of 14.14 to finish second in the 100 hurdles while Julie Eze was finish in a season-best 14.74. In the men's 110 hurdles, senior Thomas Ross won his second straight Big West title after running 13.77 to easily out-distance the field. Ross' time was .21 seconds faster than his winning time of 2007.

In the 400 meter finals, the Matador women picked up another 16 points as Ruffin claimed the Big West title in a lifetime-best 53.80 and Prier was third after also clocking a lifetime-best of 54.61. In the men's 400 meters, Nious finished fourth in a career-best time of 47.58.

Lofton, who will garner consideration for Women's Track Athlete of the Meet, added to her hardware by winning the 100 meters in a wind legal career-best 11.60. Lofton's win in the event marks the fifth consecutive season a Matador has claimed the 100 meter title. Teammates Dominique Calvin (12.06, sixth), Shaleisha Mitchell (12.09, seventh) and Cristal Steen (12.12, eighth) also scored for the Matadors in the sprint. In the men's 100, Ike shatterd his previous lifetime-best by running 10.49 to finish just behind Long Beach State's Brent Gray. Cole finished fourth in a season-best 10.72 and Ross was ninth in 10.94.

Jeremy Quant ran a lifetime-best 1:56.35 to finish eighth in the men's 800 meters while Gustavo Hernandez was 10th (2:02.53).

Eze also ran well in the 400 meter hurdles as the senior fnished second to UC Riverside's Uchechi Egeonuigwe. Egeonuigwe won the event in 59.86 while Eze ran a season-best 60.08 to post an NCAA Regional qualifying time. Vanice Colbert ran 62.08 to place fifth as Northridge earned 12 points in the event.

Lofton then picked up her third trophy of the day as she won the 200 meters in a blistering lifetime-best of 23.50. Prier took sixth in a time of 24.41, Calvin was eighth in a time of 24.69 and Ruffin finished ninth in 24.80. On the men's side, Ike ran 21.35 to take fourth while Jackson was eighth (21.60) and Cole ninth (21.75).

The final event of the Championships was the 4x400 meter relay and Lofton capped her impressive day by running the anchor leg of the Matadors' Big West champion team. Prier, Ruffin, Gonder and Lofton capped the Matadors' team title with an effort of 3:37.95, an NCAA Regional qualifying time and the fastest in the conference this season. In the men's race, the Matadors (Eugene Sanchez, Ross, Robert Robinson and Nious) took sixth in a time of 3:13.88.

The Matador men, the defending conference champions, have now finished either first or second in the Big West in each of the last six years.

Cal State Northridge will return to the track in two weeks as the Matadors prepare to host the NCAA West Regionals at the Matador Track & Field Complex. The Regionals are set for Friday and Saturday, May 30-31.

- GO MATADORS -