Bulldog Invitaional
Cal Poly Continues Build-Up to Big West Championships at Bulldog Invite
4/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Beekman, Osby Pick Up Wins; Six Other Mustangs Post Second-Place Finishes on Day Filled with 2015-Best Times and Marks
Second-to-Last Tune-Up for Postseason Featured Nine Schools
CLOVIS, Calif. — Two Mustangs won events on Saturday at the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Fresno State in Veterans Memorial Stadium, while a third member of the Cal Poly track and field team posted his fastest time since making an NCAA West Regional appearance two years ago, as the squad competed at its second-to-last meet in preparation for the upcoming postseason.
Brad Beekman won the pole vault at 15 feet, 7 inches. The sophomore was a bit off his career-best height of 16-0.75 from earlier this spring, but nonetheless took the top spot over the hosts' Shane Atkinson.
Meanwhile, freshman Kiely Osby took the women's shot put at 46-3.5.
In the 400-meter hurdles, Mustang senior David Namnath was the runner-up, at 52.90 seconds — behind only Bulldog sophomore Kamara Biawogi's 52.51.
Namnath (pictured at right in a file photo), prior to redshirting a year ago, had a time of 51.65 in 2013 while advancing to the region quarterfinals at Texas. Trevor Lien, a junior, added a sixth-place 54.64.
Mustang junior Kendal Nielsen placed second out of 17 in the triple jump, with a mark of 39-10. Freshman Juliana McCuaig was ninth thanks to a season-best 37-4.5.
Cal Poly also chalked up an additional five second-place finishes on the men's side from four sophomores:
- Danny Shellworth in the high jump (at 6 feet, 7 inches — tying his career peak and only behind CSU Bakersfield freshman Jose Flores);
- Ben Hartinger in the 110 hurdles (14.66 seconds into a headwind of 0.5 meters per second);
- Ivy Adair in the long jump (22-3);
- Arnie Sambel in both the discus (at 164 feet, atop fellow sophomore Nate Vickers' fourth-place 152-11 and senior Josh Hines' fifth-place 149-09) and shot put (53-1, while Vickers again was fourth, at 49-0.25).
Among 37 women in the 200 — at a competition featuring student-athletes from UNLV, Nevada, CSUN, Pacific, San Jose State, CSU Bakersfield and Fresno Pacific, as well as a few unattached pros — Cal Poly junior Ajah Love finished seventh in a season-best 24.36 seconds. Daijah Joe-Smith followed in 11th at 24.68.
The men's 200 saw two more second-year Mustangs sprint to third and fourth: Joey Sanfilippo at 21.97 and Amir Bradley at 22.10. (Earlier in the day, Sanfilippo also posted the third-fastest 100-meter dash time, 11.08, despite facing -1.1 wind.)
Joe-Smith came in fourth in the women's 100, in 11.91 seconds. The sophomore had opened the afternoon by teaming with junior Mishe' Scott, Love and sophomore Liesl Shirhall to clock a fourth-place 400 relay time of 46.63, surpassing the previous season best by 0.44.
Alex Ziebart had the morning's third-best men's javelin throw (at the on-campus Warmerdam Field), 188 feet even, just in front of fellow junior Nick Ahrold's 187-6. Another junior, Nick Bultman, also was third in the hammer throw at the same site, at 160-11.
In the long jump, sophomore Jessica Rasmussen finished fifth among 22 individuals, landing at 18-1.5, another season best.
Two freshmen throwers established 2015 bests in the discus, as Anola Sanders was fifth at 138-5, followed in sixth by Coryne McKenney at 137-2.
Freshman Liam Martinez's fourth-place 400 time of 49.97 was 0.19 off his PR, while senior Jesse Arenas was sixth at 50.79. Jessica Davis, a sophomore, was sixth in the 100 hurdles, at 14.87 seconds, while freshman Maddie McDonald also was sixth in the 1,500, at 4:49.40.
Most Cal Poly distance runners rested after racing at the Mt. SAC Relays and Bryan Clay Invitational last weekend. Full results can be viewed HERE.
The final tune-up for the Big West Conference Championships will be the Blue-Green Rivalry Dual Meet, against UC Santa Barbara, at Westmont, beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 2.
