Big West Athletes Wrap Up Final Day of NCAA West Regional Meet with Stellar Showings

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2009 NCAA West Regional Championship Central

Brenda Martinez claimed the West Region crown in the 1500 meter run during Saturday's action at the NCAA Regional meet in Eugene, Ore.

The second and final day of the NCAA West Regional meet saw several Big West athletes claim a spot in the NCAA Championships in June, while others put themselves in strong consideration for at-large qualification to the national meet. The regional meet was held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.

Cal Poly had two athletes advance to the NCAA Championships as Julie Dufresne and Jasmine Pickett booked their tickets to Fayetteville, Ark. Dufresne finished second in the shot put with a PR of 52-10.25, while Pickett place third in the triple jump with a mark of 42-1.25, also a new PR.

The Mustangs' Lauren Mulkey and Derek Thomas were unable to replicate their 1500 success from day one as Mulkey finished 10th (4:30.61) and Thomas finished 12th (3:56.55). In other events for Cal Poly athletes, James Nunno led three pole vaulters with an effort of 16-7.25, good for a tie for 13th, teammate Connor Landry finished in a tie for 17th (16-7.25) in the competition, while Kevin Jones did not place in the event. Carl Dargitz and Andy Wright competed in the steeplechase, with Dargitz finishing in 18th (9:12.86) and Wright in 28th (9:43.71). Whitney Sisler finished 10th in the high jump (5-7), while Robbins wrapped up the Mustang competitors with a 19th place finish in the javelin (134-7).

Cal State Fullerton also had a pair of athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships as Lauren Williams and Garrett Myers claimed spots in the national meet. Williams clocked a 13.25 in the 100 hurdles, placing second in the competitive field. Myers finished the triple jump in fifth after putting up an effort of 50-9.25. Also competing Saturday but not advancing to the NCAA finals were Juliane Masciana in the steeplechase (13th-10:39.36), Ciara Short in the 400 (6th-53.87) and Andrew Sullivan in the pole vault (29th-16-1.25).

Cal State Northridge continued the trend of double qualifiers Saturday as Sherrina Lofton and De’Shawn Waters earned trips to the NCAA Championships. Lofton ran a 11.52 in the 100, while Waters qualified in both the 100 (3rd-10.43) and the 200 (4th-21.32).

CSUN had a host of other athletes in competition Saturday in "Track Town USA". On the women’s side, the 4x100 team of Precious Watkins, Lofton, Dominique Calvin and Tara Prier finished one spot out of automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships, finishing fourth in 44.88. The 4x400 relay team of Lofton, Jackie Harrison, Ruffin and Prier finished fifth on Saturday with a season-best time of 3:38.83. Whitney Hooks placed seventh in the shot put (50-6), Stephanie Ralls finished 11th in the javelin (143-5) and Stella Dugall wrapped up the day 15th in the triple jump (39-10.50).

The Northridge men saw their 4x100 relay team of Ben Santos, Waters, Nic Taylor and Reindell Cole suffered the same fate as the Matador women as the team placed fourth in a time of 40.30. In other events, Rolando Felizola finished seventh in the triple jump (50-7.25), Derek Cooper was 11th in the discus (163-8) and Cody Pearce finished in 24th in the hammer (187-0).

Long Beach State's Kenneth Medwood continued his stellar run, literally, as he advanced to the national meet in the 400-meter hurdles. Medwood clocked in at 50.99 in the race, finishing fifth in the event. He was the lone 49er to advance to the NCAA Championships, but other LBSU athletes put up solid results. Rodney Hawkins was 12th in the triple jump (47-2.50), Colin Dunbar was 18th in the hammer (190-2), Dylan Jaedtke was 24th in the steeplechase (9:23.83), Tayler O’Connor finished in a tie for 10th in the high jump (5-7) and Carly Harris took 15th in the steeplechase (10:46.76).

UC Davis had a pair of NCAA Championship qualifiers in Jazz Trice and Polly Gnepa, the first two national qualifiers since the program moved to Division I a year ago. The duo both qualified in the 110 hurdles, finished third (13.57) and fifth (13.75), respectively.

UCD also had outstanding performers in other events Saturday. Sirena Williams finished the 100 hurdles in 13.59, Russ Pfaff finished 19th in a fast steeplechase at 9:16.50 and Chid Onyewuenyi was 14th in shot put (44-8.75). Jamie Feaster and Ethan Ostrom both competed in the pole vault, finishing tied for 17th (16-7.25) and a tie for 23rd (16-1.25), respectively.

UC Irvine had two athletes finish up the regional meet with tickets to the NCAA Championships as Lauren Collins and Alisha Misiaita put up national championship clinching performances. Collins was third in the high jump (6-0.50), while Misiaita wrapped up the shot put in fifth (50-10.25). In other performances, the 4x400 relay contingent of Oliver Plattner, George Hernandez, Tim Murphy and Charles Jock just missed automatic qualification as they finished fourth in 3:09.37, Matt Lahti finished 15th in the hammer (192-4) and the duo of Kendall Bruton and Lauren Chramosta finished 25th (11:15.41) and 27th (11:27.75) in the steeplechase, respectively.

UC Riverside’s Brenda Martinez continued her storybook season as she claimed top honors in the 1500 meter run. Martinez crossed the finish line in 4:22.31, over a full second faster than the second place finisher. UCR's Chad Hall had a strong run in the men's edition of the race, finishing sixth in 3:44.12, while Ashley Williams recorded a sixth place showing in the 800 at 2:09.69. Lauren Reid also competed for the Highlanders in the triple jump, finishing seventh with an effort of 41-9.25.

UC Santa Barbara had some strong showing during the final day of competition at the West Regional meet. Ryan Martin finished eighth in the 800 with a time of 1:52.12, Barbara Nwaba finished 13th in the high jump at 5-7, Scott Finley placed 27th in the pole vault with a mark of 16-1.25 and Katie Voigtlander finished 22nd in the steeplechase with a time of 11:04.48.

The NCAA Track & Field Championships will be held from June 10-13 at John McDonnell Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.