Saturday, March 13
Fresno, CA / FPU Track
TBA
at
Fresno Pacific Spring Break Invitational
Photo by: John Fajardo ©
Clemensen, Ross Move Into Top 5 in School History, Leading 14 Event Wins
3/13/2021 9:53:00 PM | Track and Field
Ritter, Cetti & Conner also post Top 10 all-time marks for Cal Poly, as Mustangs start 2021 season already with several likely regional-qualifying marks in Central Valley
FRESNO, Calif. — Cal Poly's Dane Clemensen and Molly Ross both produced performances ranking in the Top 5 in school history on Saturday, leading the Mustang track & field program to victories in a combined 14 events at FPU's season-opening Spring Break Invitational.
In addition to the hosting Sunbirds, the meet also was contested by UC Santa Barbara, CSU Bakersfield and Jessup U., while the WCC also saw St. Mary's, Santa Clara and USF send a few competitors on an individual basis.
Clemensen, a senior out of Castro Valley, shattered his javelin PR with a mark of 216 feet, 4 inches. The throw (65.93m) is the fifth-best in Cal Poly history since the javelin was re-designed in the mid-1980s.
The mark (finishing second on Saturday) would figure to very likely represent an NCAA Championship first-round qualifier, as in 2019, the advancing cutoff for the javelin was roughly 205 feet. Also in 2019, the final All-America Team spot in the javelin was spoken for at almost 219'.
Meanwhile, Ross also made history while winning the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.66 seconds, good for the No. 4 spot in program history. The senior from Redding could also be close to a potential NCAA Prelims ticket, as two springs ago, 13.60 represented the regional end-line.
Ross was a double-winner on Saturday, as she also won the 400m hurdles via 1:00.84, the 10th-fastest effort for the event all-time at Cal Poly. Ross was one of several Mustangs who had posted historic PRs in the 2020 indoor season, mere weeks before the hiatus of sports.
For many Mustangs, Saturday's return to action was the first opportunity back in a competitive college setting in up to 670 days.
Cal Poly capitalized on its opportunity back, registering victories across the sprints, taking the men's 100-meter dash (as Chineme Allison won in 10.92 seconds), 200m dash (Tyler Esteves, via 21.89), 800m (Bobby Poynter, at 1:52.14) and 400m hurdles (Jonathan Chagnon, in 54.9). Also in the 800m, freshman Mason Elefant ran sub-1:53, earning a 1:52.89, while sophomore Anthony Benitez also turned in an early regionally-ranked 1,500m showing of 3:51.8.
In the men's field events, the Mustangs also tallied wins from Bailey Jones (landing 47' 9.75" in the triple jump), Christian Valles & Enzo Sison (tying atop the pole vault, clearing 16' 4.75") and Nick Betchart (reaching 51' 9" in the shot put).
Jake Ritter also took a close second place in the men's 5,000-meter run, moving to No. 10 in school history for the distance in his first meet of the year, clocking 14:03.16.
The Mustang women's squad dominated the pole vault, led by defending Big West champ Brooke Tjerrild, who took top honors with a jump of 13' 6.25". Fellow previous all-conference honorees Kayla Myers and Sydney Jaques tied behind her at 12' 7.5", and Roxanne Nolan made it a top-four sweep by clearing 12' 3.5".
Cal Poly similarly swept the top four in the women's 5,000m run, paced by Sierra Brill, who edged true-freshman teammate Schuyler Gooley, 17:14.1 to 17:15.9.
Karina Moreland also won the triple jump with a mark of 38' 11.5", and Julianna Ruotolo picked up a high jump victory at 5' 8.75".
Ruotolo and Ross were also part of the victorious 4x400m relay squad, teaming up with Anisa Rind and Mikaela Romanini for a time of 3:55.2. (Esteves and Poynter also did double-duty for the 4x4 relay, combining with Joey Suoto and Wes Salzman to almost beat UCSB, 3:16.86 to 3:16.68.)
Cal Poly also saw even more school history made in the men's hammer throw, where Devon Cetti (landing a toss of 177' 8") and Wyatt Conner (174' 1") took over the No. 9 and 10 spots on the program's all-time chart.
While results from around the country were still being tabulated late Saturday night as the outdoor season gets underway, Poynter, Elefant, Benitez, Ritter, Clemensen, Ross, Ruotolo and Tjerrild all possess early top-10 national rankings.
The Mustangs will now train for the upcoming Cal Poly Spring Break Challenge, scheduled for Wednesday, March 24.
In addition to the hosting Sunbirds, the meet also was contested by UC Santa Barbara, CSU Bakersfield and Jessup U., while the WCC also saw St. Mary's, Santa Clara and USF send a few competitors on an individual basis.
Clemensen, a senior out of Castro Valley, shattered his javelin PR with a mark of 216 feet, 4 inches. The throw (65.93m) is the fifth-best in Cal Poly history since the javelin was re-designed in the mid-1980s.
The mark (finishing second on Saturday) would figure to very likely represent an NCAA Championship first-round qualifier, as in 2019, the advancing cutoff for the javelin was roughly 205 feet. Also in 2019, the final All-America Team spot in the javelin was spoken for at almost 219'.
Meanwhile, Ross also made history while winning the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.66 seconds, good for the No. 4 spot in program history. The senior from Redding could also be close to a potential NCAA Prelims ticket, as two springs ago, 13.60 represented the regional end-line.
Ross was a double-winner on Saturday, as she also won the 400m hurdles via 1:00.84, the 10th-fastest effort for the event all-time at Cal Poly. Ross was one of several Mustangs who had posted historic PRs in the 2020 indoor season, mere weeks before the hiatus of sports.
For many Mustangs, Saturday's return to action was the first opportunity back in a competitive college setting in up to 670 days.
Cal Poly capitalized on its opportunity back, registering victories across the sprints, taking the men's 100-meter dash (as Chineme Allison won in 10.92 seconds), 200m dash (Tyler Esteves, via 21.89), 800m (Bobby Poynter, at 1:52.14) and 400m hurdles (Jonathan Chagnon, in 54.9). Also in the 800m, freshman Mason Elefant ran sub-1:53, earning a 1:52.89, while sophomore Anthony Benitez also turned in an early regionally-ranked 1,500m showing of 3:51.8.
In the men's field events, the Mustangs also tallied wins from Bailey Jones (landing 47' 9.75" in the triple jump), Christian Valles & Enzo Sison (tying atop the pole vault, clearing 16' 4.75") and Nick Betchart (reaching 51' 9" in the shot put).
Jake Ritter also took a close second place in the men's 5,000-meter run, moving to No. 10 in school history for the distance in his first meet of the year, clocking 14:03.16.
The Mustang women's squad dominated the pole vault, led by defending Big West champ Brooke Tjerrild, who took top honors with a jump of 13' 6.25". Fellow previous all-conference honorees Kayla Myers and Sydney Jaques tied behind her at 12' 7.5", and Roxanne Nolan made it a top-four sweep by clearing 12' 3.5".
Cal Poly similarly swept the top four in the women's 5,000m run, paced by Sierra Brill, who edged true-freshman teammate Schuyler Gooley, 17:14.1 to 17:15.9.
Karina Moreland also won the triple jump with a mark of 38' 11.5", and Julianna Ruotolo picked up a high jump victory at 5' 8.75".
Ruotolo and Ross were also part of the victorious 4x400m relay squad, teaming up with Anisa Rind and Mikaela Romanini for a time of 3:55.2. (Esteves and Poynter also did double-duty for the 4x4 relay, combining with Joey Suoto and Wes Salzman to almost beat UCSB, 3:16.86 to 3:16.68.)
Cal Poly also saw even more school history made in the men's hammer throw, where Devon Cetti (landing a toss of 177' 8") and Wyatt Conner (174' 1") took over the No. 9 and 10 spots on the program's all-time chart.
While results from around the country were still being tabulated late Saturday night as the outdoor season gets underway, Poynter, Elefant, Benitez, Ritter, Clemensen, Ross, Ruotolo and Tjerrild all possess early top-10 national rankings.
The Mustangs will now train for the upcoming Cal Poly Spring Break Challenge, scheduled for Wednesday, March 24.
Players Mentioned
Sprints / Relays
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Javelin
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Mid Distance
/ Track and Field
200m / Relays
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Triple Jump / Long Jump / Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Triple Jump / Long Jump
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
800m / 400m
/ Track and Field200m / 400m / Relays
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Mid Distance / Relays
/ Track and Field
Hurdles / Relays
/ Track and Field
400m / Relays / HJ
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
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