Big West Track and Field Championships

by http://www.bigwest.org

The Long Beach State men and Cal State Northridge women proved to be too tough for the competition as the two clubs took home their respective 2011 Big West track & field titles. The Championships were being held at Anteater Stadium on the campus of UC Irvine.

The 49ers won the league meet for the first time since 2008 and won their sixth title overall. LBSU amassed 177.50 points for the championship, outdistancing UC Davis which had 156 points. Cal Poly was third with 131 points, while UC Santa Barbara stands in fourth with 116.5 points. Fifth belongs to host Cal State Northridge with 80 points, with UC Irvine (79), UC Riverside (54) and Cal State Fullerton (25) complete the men's standings.

The Matadors claimed their sixth consecutive championship and now own a league-record eight overally. CSUN's championship defense had it post 165.5 points, with Long Beach State coming in second with 126 tallies. UC Davis was third with 105 points, while Long Beach State (98.5), UC Riverside (97) and Cal Poly (88) are bunched in fourth through sixth. UC Irvine's 75 points and Cal State Fullerton's 61 points wrap up the women's standings.

In the final day of field events, the men competed in the javelin, triple jump, pole vault and discus, while the women took part in the hammer, high jump, shot put and triple jump.

The men's winners were Long Beach State's Benjamin Woodruff in the javelin at 205-05 (62.62m), UC Davis' Ray Green in the triple jump with a mark of 49-09 (15.16m), LBSU's Tyler Wallace in the pole vault after clearing the bar at 18-0.50 (5.50m) and the 49ers' Colin Dunbar in the discus with a toss of 174-09 (53.27m).

The women's field event winners consisted of UC Riverside's Megan McFarland in the hammer with an effort of 182-03 (55.56m), Cal State Northridge's Desirae Gonder in the high jump with a jump of 5-10 (1.78m), UC Davis' Chid Onyewuenyi in the shot put with a toss of 50-3.50 (15.33m) and UCR's Allison Wilder in the triple jump thanks to a mark of 43-0.25 (13.11m).

The track competitions came fast and furious as all of the events were scored finals. To kick off the afternoon, the 4x100 relay electrified the crowd. Cal State Northridge won the men's relay with an effort of 40.57, while Cal State Fullerton cruised to a win in the women's relay with an effort of 45.88.

The 1500 meter run saw UC Irvine's Colin Hacker come from behind to win at 3:44.44, while Cal Poly's Vanessa Hancock won the women's race in 4:27.73, almost two seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

The men's 110-meter hurdles had Cal State Northridge's Michael Woodham win the race in 14.09, while the women's 100-meter hurdles had Cal State Fullerton's Lauren Williams claim the event in 13.51. It was the fourth straight season Williams had won the crown.

In the 400, UC Riverside's Bryan Adams had a late kick to win the title in 47.42, while Cal State Fullerton's Ciara Short posted a two-plus second win in the women's race in 52.31.

The 100-meter dash was next and Cal State Northridge's Carl Horsley (10.55) and Sherrina Lofton (11.65) gave the Matadors the fastest two athletes in the Big West.

The most exciting race was next on the men's side, the 800-meter run. UC Santa Barbara's Ryan Martin posted a meet record time of 1:45.34, barely passing UC Irvine's Charles Jock who posted a 1:45.40. Martin's time is second in the nation behind Jock, who posted the NCAA's top time earlier in the season. UCSB swept the event as Justine Diaz won the women's race in 2:10.30.

The grueling 400-meter hurdles was next and Thomas Phillips of UC Davis claimed the title in 51.11. UC Irvine's Ericka Nowell gave the homestanding Anteaters another title as she won the race in 58.82.

The 200-meter dash delivered another dose of excitement as Cal State Northridge's Carl Horsley (21.17) and Cal State Fullerton's Ciara Short (23.42) won the titles with dazzling races.

The 5000-meter run came next and saw Cal Poly's Brandon Shirck hold off UC Davis' Jonathan Sees with a time of 14:42.05, just .49 ahead of Sees. Amanda Moreno of UC Santa Barbara had an easier win in the women's race, posting a four second win after crossing the finish in 16:44.21.

The men's 4x400 relay saw UC Irvine post a thrilling come-from-behind win in 3:10.28, just passing the finish line ahead of UC Davis (3:10.35). Cal State Northridge punctuated it's victory on the women's side with an effort of 3:41.41.

LIVE RESULTS

To see past championship results for the conference meet, please click the link below: 

BIG WEST TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS ARCHIVE