Men Finish Third, Women Sixth at BWC Track and Field Championships
5/11/2013 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
RESULTS
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The Cal Poly men's track and field team concluded the two-day Big West Track and Field Championships on Saturday in third place while the women's team finished sixth. The day was highlighted with Cal Poly winning the 5,000m in both the men's and women's races. Cal State Northridge hosted the championship.
The men's team finished third with 146 points. Long Beach State captured the championship with 176.5 points followed by UC Santa Barbara with 152 points. Cal State Northridge followed the Mustangs (115.5) with UC Riverside (70), UC Irvine (58) Cal State Fullerton (56.5) and UC Davis (37.5) rounding out the field.
On the women's side, Cal Poly was sixth with 71.5 points. UC Davis earned the championship with 172.5 points followed by UC Santa Barbara with 128.5. Cal State Northridge was third (127) with Hawai'i (76.5) and Long Beach State (75) just edging Cal Poly. UC Riverside (65.5), UC Irvine (57) and Cal State Fullerton (45.5) filled the field.
The highlight of the day for the men's team came when Cal Poly swept the top three positions in the 5000 meters. One day removed from winning the 10,000 meters, junior Chris Frias came back and won the 5000 in a time of 14:48.71. Junior Blake Ahrold was second with a time of 14:49.89 after finishing second in the 3000m steeplechase on Friday with fellow junior Sean Davidson placing third with a time of 14:53.08. Davidson finished second in the 10,000 on Friday.
Junior David Namnath had a stellar day when he posted a career-best time of 51.65 and a second place finish in the 400m hurdles while sophomore Kyle Lynch finished seventh in the 1500 with a time of 3:53.34.
Junior Jamison Jordan scored in both finals he competed in on Saturday and in three events overall. Jordan was fourth in both the 100 and 200 meter races. In the 100m he was clocked in 10.86 while he posted a time of 21.56 in the 200. His third event was the 4x100 relay when he teamed with Chris Nicholls, Paul Brown and Antwaine Miller to finish fourth with a season-best time of 41.43.
Cal Poly had a strong showing in the 800m with two runners scoring points. Junior John Guerrero finished second with a time of 1:50.32 while teammate Aric Champagne was eighth with a time of 1:59.56.
The relay team of Devin Bennett, Brown, Guerrero and Namnath finished sixth in a season-best time of 3:17.33 in the 4x400 while Bennett also scored in the high jump when he cleared 6-feet, 3.50-inches in finishing sixth.
Freshman Laura Hollander did not disappoint in winning the 5000 meter run with a meet record time of 16:25.62. Fellow freshman Rachel Bush was fourth with a time of 17:42.80.
The afternoon of the final day of competition started with the Mustangs 4x100 meter relay team scoring two points with a seventh place finish. The team of A'Jah Love, Kendal Nielsen and Daryenne Wickliffe posted a time of 47.56.
In the 4x400m relay, Aspen Makkar and Ashley Windsor finished eighth with a time of 3:52.92.
Sophomore Hanna Edwards placed fifth in the 1500m with a time of 3:34.62 and collected four points. Freshman Rachel Bush was sixth with a time of 4:38.96 and scored three points.
In the 800 meters, Cal Poly had two score points led by Windsor in seventh place and a time of 2:11.00 while junior Lia Rivers-Birt posted a time of 2:12.85 in eighth place.
In field events Nielsen placed fifth and recorded four points in the triple jump when she recorded a leap of 39-feet, 7.75 inches. Junior Rebecca Halvorson placed eighth in the javelin with a throw of 121-feet, 9-inches. Freshman Amy Loschiavo cleared 11-feet, 11.75-inches in placing fifth in the pole vault.
The Cal Poly teams will return to the track at the NCAA Primary Round in Austin, TX, May 23-25.
Players Mentioned
