Big West Track Athletes Head North for NCAA West Regional Meet

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2009 NCAA West Regional Championship Central

UC Irvine's Lauren Collins will compete in the high jump at the NCAA West Region meet. (Photo by Matt Brown)

Cal State Northridge's Reindell Cole is entered in the long jump at the NCAA West Regional competition.

The first step toward the NCAA Championships takes place this weekend for Big West track & field athletes as they head to Eugene, Ore., for the 2009 NCAA West Regional meet. The University of Oregon will host the meet Friday and Saturday at its historic Hayward Field, part of a city that has been affectionately dubbed "Track Town USA".

The regional, one of four such meets around the country, helps to whittle down the field for the National Championships which takes place June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark., on the campus of the University of Arkansas. The top five finishers in each event and top three teams in the relays gain automatic entry to the NCAA Championships, while the rest of the field is determined on an at-large status using different factors.

In all, the Conference will have 94 individual competitors (50 men, 44 women) and four relays (two apiece in each gender) in action at Hayward. Below is a complete list of the Big West declared athletes for the West Region meet sorted by event:

MEN
100 – DeShawn Waters, CSUN
200 – DeShawn Waters, CSUN
800 – Charles Jock, UCI; Ryan Martin, UCSB; Alex Freitas, LBSU
1500 – Derek Thomas, CP; Chad Hall, UCR; Pedro Ramos, UCR; Joe Gatel, CP; Colin Hacker, UCI; Matthew Maldonado, LBSU
Steeplechase – Russ Pfaff, UCD; Carl Dargitz, CP; Andy Wright, CP; Dylan Jaedtke, LBSU
5000 – Scott Smith, UCSB; Troy Swier, CP; Daniel Gonia, CP; Ulices Pina, UCR
110 Hurdles – Jazz Trice, UCD; Robert Robinson, CSUN; Nimrod Piggee, LBSU
400 Hurdles – Alex Wilright, UCD; Kenneth Medwood, LBSU; Thomas Phillips, UCD
4x100 Relay – Cal State Northridge (Ben Santos, DeShawn Waters, Nick Taylor, Reindell Cole)
4x400 Relay – UC Irvine (Oliver Platner, George Hernandez, Tim Murphy, Charles Jock)
High Jump – Jonathan Golden, CSF; Julian Eison, UCI; LaRon Brown, CSF; Ben Nelson, UCD; Tynan Murray, CP; Thomas Johnson, CSUN; Alex Black, LBSU
Pole Vault – Kevin Jones, CP; Scott Finley, UCSB; James Nunno, CP; Connor Landry, CP; Jamie Feaster, UCD; Andrew Sullivan, CSF, Ethan Ostrom, UCD
Long Jump – Reindell Cole, CSUN; Garrett Myers, CSF; Rolando Felizola, CSUN; Kenneth Medwood, LBSU
Triple Jump – Rolando Felizola, CSUN; Rodney Hawkins, LBSU; Garrett Myers, CSF
Shot Put – Scott Anderson, UCSB; Derek Cooper, CSUN
Discus – Derek Cooper, CSUN
Hammer – Matt Lahti, UCI; Colin Dunbar, LBSU; Cody Pearce, CSUN
Javelin – Lance Gonzales, CSUN; Pat Smith, LBSU

WOMEN
100 – Sherrina Lofton, CSUN; Precious Watkins, CSUN
400 – Shelese Ruffin, CSUN; Ciara Short, CSF; Ugo Eke, UCD
800 – Ashley Williams, UCR
1500 – Brenda Martinez, UCR; Danielle Evans, UCR; Lauren Mulkey, CP; Missy Barclay, LBSU
Steeplechase – Juliane Masciana, CSF; Carly Harris, LBSU; Lauren Chramosta, UCI; Kendall Bruton, UCI; Katie Voigtlander, UCSB
5000 – Kim Conley, UCD; Lorin Scott, UCD
100 Hurdles – Lauren Williams, CSF; Sirena Williams, UCD; Golde Ibia, UCI
400 Hurdles – Uchechi Egeonuigwe, UCR; Jhana Samuels, CP
4x100 Relay – Cal State Northridge (Precious Watkins, Sherrina Lofton, Dominique Calvin, Tara Prier)
4x400 Relay – Cal State Northridge (Jacqueline Harrison, Tara Prier, Jasmine Cox, Shelese Ruffin), UC Riverside (Uchechi Egeonuigwe, Marina Young, Ashley Williams, Brenda Martinez)

High Jump – Lauren Collins, UCI; Whitney Sisler, CP; Barbara Nwaba, UCSB; Tayler O’Connor, LBSU
Pole Vault – Jenna Homes, CP; Kelly MacLean, CSF
Long Jump – Shelese Ruffin, CSUN; Candyce Babb, CSUN
Triple Jump – Allison Wilder, UCR; Jasmine Pickett, CP; Stella Dugall, CSUN; Lauren Reid, UCR; Caitlin Schields, CP
Shot Put – Julie Dufresne, CP; Alisha Misiatia, UCI; Jameena Hunt, CSF; Chid Onyewuenyi, UCD; Whitney Hooks, CSUN
Discus – Julie Dufresne, CP; Jameena Hunt, CSF; Irene Kujore, UCSB; Ashley Hearn, UCD
Hammer – Chid Onyewuenyi, UCD
Javelin – Stephanie Ralls, CSUN; Katie Robbins, CP