May 31, 2008

NCAA West Regional Photo Gallery

Quotes from Day 2 in PDF Format

NCAA West Region Final Results

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Three Northridge men and three Matador women earned automatic berths into the NCAA Outdoor Championships as Northridge finished the NCAA West Regional in eighth place on the women's side and 13th place on the men's side Saturday at the Matador Track & Field Complex.

The Matador women earned 31 points in the regional championships for an eighth place finish while the Northridge men picked up 24 points for 13th place.

Senior DaShalle Andrews posted the best Northridge men's finish on Saturday as he finished second in the triple jump with a career-best 52-5.25 (15.98). Andrews, the defending NCAA champion in the long jump, earned his third trip to the nationals after finishing second to Ryan Grinnell of Boise State. Andrews overcame a disappointing 12th place finish in the long jump on Friday to reach the championships in Des Moines, Iowa in two weeks.

Fellow senior Thomas Ross earned his second straight trip to the outdoor championships after placing fourth in the 110 hurdles in a time of 13.80. Although his time was off the 13.72 her ran in the prelims on Friday, Ross finished fourth in an impressive field to earn the berth.

Junior Bradley Ike, making his first appearance in the West Regional, earned his first trip to the NCAA's with a fourth place finish in the 100 meters. Ike ran 10.57 on Saturday after clocking a wind-aided 10.35 in Friday's prelims.

Also for the Matadors, Justin Johnson (decathlon), Derek Cooper (throws) and Reindell Cole (long jump) will wait until next week to see if they are awarded berths in the national championships.

For the Matador women on Saturday, a trio of sophomores (Desirae Gonder, Sherrina Lofton and Stephanie Ralls) all earned berths in the NCAA Championships.

Ralls matched Andrews' second place finish as the sophomore placed second in the javelin after posting a lifetime-best 160-11 (49.04). Ralls hit her career-best on her sixth and final throw of the final round. This will be Ralls' first trip to the NCAA National Championships.

Gonder, the Big West runner-up in the high jump, finished fourth on Saturday after clearing 5-9.25 (1.76). Gonder, who jumped a career-best 6-0.50 (1.84) at the Big West Championship, will be making her NCAA Outdoor Championship debut in two weeks in Des Moines, Iowa.

Lofton, the conference champion in the 100 and 200 meters, finished fourth in the 200 meters in a time of 23.88. She narrowly missed making the top five in the 100 meters after finishing in 11.62, just .07 out of the final automatic berth.

The Northridge 4x100 relay team finished fifth in a time of 45.35 and the 4x400 relay took fourth in a time of 3:37.78 narrowly missing the automatic berth from finishing in the top three.

Regional Report

The Arizona State men's and women's track & field teams posted impressive wins in winning the team competition at the NCAA West Regional (May 30-31) at Matador Track Complex on the campus of Cal State Northridge.

The Sun Devil men, in a tight battle with Pac-10 rival USC, outscored the Trojans, 74-72. UCLA finished third with 68.50 points followed by Washington in fourth place (54), Oregon in fifth place (53) and California in sixth place (50).

The Sun Devil women, who two weeks earlier captured the Pac-10 title, also added the NCAA West Regional title to its trophy case with a decisive victory with 114 points. UCLA finished second (87.50) followed by USC (78), Stanford (74) and Oregon (50).

During the two days of competition, the Arizona State men picked up victories in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (Kyle Alcorn, 8:36.74), Matt Turner in the long jump (7.92m) and Ryan Whiting in the shot put (20.60m).

In all, the Arizona State men finished in the top three in the 200 meters (2nd), the 400 meters (2nd), 3,000 meter steeplechase (1st), long jump (1st), shot put (1st).

The Sun Devil women captured top honors in the 200 meters Charonda Williams (23.30), the 400 meter relay team (44.48), Jessica Pressley in the shot put (17.40m) and Tai Battle in the discus (55.02m).

The Arizona State sizable victory in the women's competition was aided by top three finishes in the following events: 200 meters (1st, 3rd), 400 meter relay (1st), 1,600 meter relay (2nd), long jump (3rd), shot put (1st, 3rd), discus (1st, 2nd, 3rd), and hammer (2nd, 3rd).

- GO MATADORS -