A Look Back at the 2009 Big West Track & Field Season

Cal State Northridge's Rolando Felizola

The 2009 Big West track & field is in the books, a four-month stretch full of memorable and record-breaking performances.

The Big West Championships went to a familiar squad as Cal State Northridge claimed the titles on both the men's and women's side. The men's crown was the fourth all-time for CSUN, while the women moved up to second all-time in conference history with their sixth championship. The Matador track teams had their share of individual champions as the women’s contingent claimed seven titles, while the men came away with six first-place finishes.

UC Davis' men’s contingent had a stellar time at the Conference Championships as the Aggies finished second with 136.5 points in just their second year at the DI level. Leading the charge for UCD on the track were its strong hurdles contingent of Polly Gnepa, Jazz Trice and Thomas Williams, all of which qualified for the NCAAs in their respective races.

The women’s surprise came from Cal Poly, which posted 114.5 points for a second place finish, the first runner-up finish for the Mustangs since the 2002 season. The squad was led by Julie Dufresne, who was a dual winner at the Championships in the shot put and discus. In all, the Mustangs had five individual winners during the Big West Championships and Dufresne was honored as the Big West Field Athlete of the Year. She also picked up national accolades at the NCAA meet as she finished sixth in the shot for All-America honors.

The end of the year awards also had a familiar CSUN feel as the Matadors won a total of five of the major awards. The Matador awards haul saw DeShawn Waters named Men's Track Athlete of the Year and Rolando Felizola garner Men's Field Athlete of the Year accolades, while Precious Watkins was honored as the Women's Freshman of the Year. Head coach Don Strametz rounded out the CSUN awards by being named the Men's and Women's Coach of the Year.

UC Riverside's Brenda Martinez had an outstanding season in the middle distance races, culminating in Big West Women's Track Athlete of the Year and All-America status. Martinez topped her own conference record in the 1500 a couple weeks before the Conference Championships, ran a meet record 2:03.05 in the 800 prelim at the Big West Championships, a top 20 time in the world, and won both the 800 and 1500 crowns during the league meet. She also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 1500 and claimed her second All-America honor after an amazing late kick gave her a second place finish in the final.