With back-to-back sweeps at the Big West Track & Field Championships complete, Cal State Northridge continued its haul with five major awards it was announced today.
The Matador awards haul saw Lance Gonzales and Desirae Gonder win Men's and Women's Field Athlete of the Year, respectively, Tiana Webberley claim the Women's Freshman of the Year and head coach Don Strametz named the Men's and Co-Women's Coach of the Year. Charles Jock of UC Irvine and Ciara Short of Cal State Fullerton won the Men's and Women's Track Athlete of the Year awards, respectively, Cal Poly's Taylor Herrera won Men's Freshman of the Year and UC Santa Barbara's Pete Dolan claimed the other half of the Women's Coach of the Year award.
Jock (San Diego, Calif.) is the first men's Anteater competitor to win an Athlete of the Year honor since Gus Quinonez in 1987. The true sophomore broke the 32-year old school record of Olympian Steve Scott in the 800 at the Cal/Nevada Championships, winning the event in 1:47.46 on his way to Athlete of the Meet honors. He followed that up with another 800 win at the Mt. SAC Relays a little under a month later. Then at the Asics/Steve Scott Invitational, Jock ran an impressive 46.72 in the 400 that ranks first in the Big West, #23 in the West and 54th nationally. That was a prelude to his performance at the Big West Championships where Jock topped his 800 record in victory with a 1:46.93 and anchored the winning 4x400 relay contingent with an official leg of 44.9 seconds. His 800 time leads the Big West, is second in the West Region and fourth in the NCAA.
Short (San Diego, Calif.) is the first Titan to win the Women's Athlete of the Year award. She has set three individual school records this season, establishing new marks in the 100 (11.66), 200 (23.70) and 400 (52.37), while also helping the 4x100 squad set a program mark. Short was a two-time winner at the Big West Championships in the 200 and 400, breaking the combined five-year run of Cal State Northridge athletes winning the events. Short also helped the 4x100 and 4x400 relay squads to second and fourth place finishes at the league meet, respectively. She is the leader in the Big West in the 100, 200 and 400, ranks sixth in the West Region and seventh nationally in the 400 and ranks 28th in the NCAA in the 200. Short was also a three-time Big West Track Athlete of the Week, the most honors won by an athlete this season.
Gonzales (Murrieta, Calif.) has been an all-around threat for the Matadors in the field events this season. At the Big West Championships, Gonzales was third in the decathlon (6,995 pts.), won the high jump with a lifetime-best 2.09 meters (6-10.25), was second in the javelin at 59.22 meters (204-09) and seventh in the long jump at 7.05 meters (23-1.75). His finishes at the league meet single-handedly accounted for 29 of CSUN’s points at the Championships. Among the league’s top marks, Gonzales is in the top 10 in the javelin, high jump, triple jump, long jump and decathlon.
Gonder (Bakersfield, Calif.) is the first Women’s Field recipient for CSUN since LaShanna Verdon claimed the honor in 2006. Gonder put up 34 important points for the Matadors’ conference championship winning teams. The former outdoor All-American, who redshirted the outdoor season a year ago, finished second in the heptathlon with a lifetime-best 5,512 points, put up a third place finish in the high jump with a season-best effort of 1.80 meters (5-10.75) and was also third in the long jump at 5.92 meters (19-05.25).
Herrera (LaVerne, Calif.) has had a solid season in his initial go-round at the DI level. The rookie finished third at the Big West Championships in the 100 (10.61) and 200 (21.50), while also helping the Mustangs finish third in the 4x100 relay (41.38). His exploits weren’t limited to just the league meet as Herrera co-owns the top 200 time in the Big West (21.10) and the second-best 100 (10.49).
Webberley (Palmdale, Calif.) was a champion at her first Big West Championship meet. She won the pole vault with an effort of 3.78 meters (12-4.75), the second CSUN athlete in the last three seasons to win the event. The freshman’s vault was even more impressive when considering that she was the lone competitor to surpass 12 feet in the event.
Strametz is one of the most successful coaches in Big West history as he has now led the women’s Matador squad to five straight conference titles and a league-record tying seven overall, while leading the men’s contingent to their fifth title overall and fourth in the past six years. This also marks the sixth consecutive season Strametz has been honored with at least one of the Coach of the Year accolades. The CSUN men won six individual titles at the league meet and have two athletes in the top 20 nationally in their respective events. Meanwhile, the Matador women claimed five individual crowns on their way to the history books.
Dolan claimed the Women’s Coach of the Year for the first time since 2005 and the second time overall. He led the Gaucho women to a second place finish at the league meet, its best showing since back-to-back second place results in 2006-07. Six UCSB athletes claimed individual honors, including a pair of two-event winners in Danielle Domenichelli and Barbara Nwaba. Domenichelli also established a new Big West record in the 5K and a meet record in the 10K.
2010 Big West Track & Field Honors
Men's Track Athlete of the Year
Charles Jock, UC Irvine
Men's Field Athlete of the Year
Lance Gonzales, Cal State Northridge
Men's Freshman of the Year
Taylor Herrera, Cal Poly
Men's Coach of the Year
Don Strametz, Cal State Northridge
Women's Track Athlete of the Year
Ciara Short, Cal State Fullerton
Women's Field Athlete of the Year
Desirae Gonder, Cal State Northridge
Women's Freshman of the Year
Tiana Webberley, Cal State Northridge
Women's Co-Coach of the Year
Pete Dolan, UC Santa Barbara
Don Strametz, Cal State Northridge