Big West Athletes Put Up Solid Performances in Day One of NCAA West Regional Meet

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2009 NCAA West Regional Championship Central

Cal State Northridge's Reindell Cole advanced to the NCAA Championships in June after finishing second in the long jump at the NCAA West Regional meet.

The first day of the NCAA West Regional meet is complete and the representatives from the Big West put up impressive performances to advance to Saturday’s finals and the NCAA Championship competition in June. The regional meet is being held in Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in “Track Town USA”, Eugene, Ore.

The Mustangs of Cal Poly had eight athletes in action Friday, highlighted by Lauren Mulkey and Derek Thomas advancing to the Saturday finals in their respective 1500-meter field. Mulkey advanced to the finals with a PR effort of 4:25.28, while Thomas moved ahead after completing the race in 3:47.33. Cal Poly also had Joe Gatel in action in the 1500, but he was unable to advance after finishing 3:58.55.

The other Mustang athletes in competition Friday were Julie Dufresne in the discus (13th-47.65), Jenna Homes in the pole vault (15th-3.81m), Jhana Samuels in the 400 hurdles (19th-1:05.11) and Daniel Gonia (20th-14:32.47) and Troy Swier (22nd-14:42.92) in the 5000.

Cal State Fullerton had two field athletes gain entry into the NCAA Championships as Jameena Hunt and Jonathan Golden booked their ticket to Fayetteville, Ark., next month. Golden advanced with an effort of 7-01 in the high jump, while Hunt put up an impressive 173-9 in the discus. The effort was 14 feet better than her previous high and all four of her legal attempts outdistanced her previous PR of 153-9.

Two Titan women also qualified for Saturday running finals. Lauren Williams set a school record and was the top qualifier in the 100 hurdles with a time of 13.22, while Ciara Short moved on to the 400 after putting up the fourth-best time of 53.90.

Cal State Northridge had an excellent day during the first round of competition at the West Regional meet. Reindell Cole led the Matadors Saturday as he finished second in the long jump with an effort of 25-8.25 (7.83m), advancing to the NCAA Championships. Rolando Felizola also competed in the long jump and finished ninth with a leap of 24-3.50 (7.40m), which came on his second jump of the day. Also in field event finals on Friday, Derek Cooper placed 11th in the men's shot put with a throw of 55-5.50 (16.90m), Thomas Johnson tied for seventh in the men’s high jump after clearing 6-8.75 (2.05m) and Lance Gonzales was 12th in the javelin with a throw of 200-5 (61.08m).

In the women's long jump, Northridge finished out of the scoring as Shelese Ruffin finished 13th and Candyce Babb was 14th. Ruffin jumped 19-00.50 (5.80) on her first attempt while Babb wrapped up her Northridge career with a leap of 18-05.25 (5.62).

For CSUN on the track side of things, DeShawn Waters advanced to the finals of the 100 meters after finishing third in his heat and fifth overall with a time of 10.42. Sherrina Lofton also advanced to the women's 100 final after running a lifetime best 11.45 to finish second in her heat and fourth-best overall. Precious Watkins also advanced to the finals after finishing fourth in the same heat, and seventh overall, with a PR of 11.64. Shelese Ruffin also advanced to the finals of the 400 as she won her heat with a time of 54.03

Both Matador men and women had a successful day on the track as both 4x100 relay teams advanced to Saturday's final. The women's team of Precious Watkins, Sherrina Lofton, Dominique Calvin and Tara Prier ran a season-best 44.73 to finish fourth in the prelims and advance. The time is the third-best 4x100 relay time in Northridge history.

In the men's 4x100 relay, Ben Santos, De'Shawn Waters, Nic Taylor and Reindell Cole shattered the Northridge season-best by clocking a time of 40.13 to third in the prelims. The time is the sixth-best in Matador relay history.

Long Beach State had Kenneth Medwood highlight its first day of action as the he advanced to the finals of the 400-meter hurdles after finishing second in his heat and sixth overall with a time of 51.29. Medwood also competed in the long jump and finished in 12th with an effort of 23-6.25.

In other events, Nimrod Piggee finished 13th in the 100-meter hurdles (14.73), Patrick Smith was 19th in the javelin (196-09), Alex Freitas was 18th in the 800 (1:51.08), Matt Maldonado was 26th in the 1500 (3:56.41) and Missy Barclay was 21st in the 1500 (4:44.24).

UC Davis also had a big day at the West Regional meet, led by its strong contingent of hurdlers. Sirena Williams qualified for Saturday's final in the 100-meter hurdles after finishing sixth overall in 13.50, lowering her school record time by 13.50. Meanwhile the trio of Polly Gnepa, Jazz Trice and Alex Wilright also advanced to the finals of their respective hurdle races. Gnepa (13.69-3rd overall) and Trice (13.73-5th overall) each advanced in the 110 hurdles, while Wilright (50.95-3rd overall) won his heat in the 400 hurdles.

In other events for UCD, Ben Nelson finished sixth in the high jump (6-10.25), Ugo Eke finished 14th in the 400 (55.25), Lorin Scott finished 13th in the 5000 (17:03.65), Chid Onyewuenyi finished ninth in the hammer (184-01), Ashley Hearn fouled in her three attempts in the discus and Kim Conley was unable to finish the 5000.

UC Irvine did not have any athletes advance to Saturday's finals, but still had excellent results on day one. Julian Eison was seventh in the high jump (6-8.75), Golde Ibia finished 12th in the 100-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 13.67, Charles Jock was third in his heat and 10th overall in the 800 (1:49.69) and Colin Hacker ran a 3:50.93 in the 1500 to finish 17th.

UC Riverside had a banner day as all three athletes in competition advanced to the finals of their respective events. Brenda Martinez won her heat in the 1500 with a time of 4:22.16, then saw Chad Hall finish fourth in his heat of the same event in 3:48.57. Ashley Williams completed the day for UCR with a career-best time of 2:07.73 in the 800, finishing fifth overall.

UC Santa Barbara had four athletes in competition during the first day of regional action. Scott Anderson took sixth in the shot put with an effort of 58-3 (17.75m), just narrowly missing automatic qualification into the NCAA meet. Ryan Martin qualified for the 800 finals by taking second in his heat with a time of 1:50.23. Rounding things out for the Gauchos were Scott Smith, who finished 23rd in the 5000 (14:46.60), and Irene Kujore, who finished 21st in the discus with an effort of 146-0 (44.51m).