49ers Compete at NCAA's

All-American Peformances Close Out NCAA Championships
Heinz and Gray Named Nation's Best as 49ers Send Seven to Nationals

June 6-9, 2007

FULL RESULTS

SATURDAY, JUNE 9
SACRAMENTO, CA-- Long Beach State's Kim Heinz made sure her last collegiate meet was a memorable one. The Florence, MT senior broke her own school-record in the javelin, tossing 169'4" on her third throw, to finish seventh at the NCAA Championships and along with Brent Gray, earn All-America honors for the first time. Gray (Carson, CA) also had a stellar final day and season, running 20.96 in the 200-meter dash, to finish fourth.

Heinz finished her career as a two-time Big West Champion and two-time All-Region selection, reaching Nationals two times. She was three times named All-Big West and in her three years routinely established and re-established the school-record, which was 155'2" upon her arrival. As a sophomore herself and Samantha Young jockeyed back and forth for the record, with Young coming away with a record 158'10" by the end of 2005. She reclaimed the mark during her junior season, topping out at 160'9". Her previous tally of 166'6", was set at the Steve Scott Invite. The mark earned Heinz her third career Big West Athlete of the Week honor.

Gray finished off a stellar first season for the 49ers after transferring from junior college, own school-records in the indoor and outdoor 100 and 200-meter dashes, the latter 200-meter, set during the national meet. He was named the Big West's Track Athlete of the Year, winning the Big West 100 and 200 meter races, the latter with a school-record, while also being a part of the Big West winning 4x400-meter winning relay team. He had already broken the 100-meter record earlier this season. The West Regional 200-meter champion was also named All-Region in the 100-meter dash, where he finished second. During the indoor season he broke both school-records and earned All-MPSF honors in the 200-meter dash.

The men finished in 46th place with five points, while the women finished with two points for 67th place.

FRIDAY, JUNE 8
SACRAMENTO, CA-- Jennifer Onyeagbako finished 11th in the women's discus, missing All-America by one spot. Sprinter Brent Gray will compete in Saturday's NCAA Championship Finals in the 200-meter, in lane 4, after racing through the preliminaries and semifinals in the outer lanes. Kim Heinz will compete in her second-straight javelin final.

THURSDAY, JUNE 7
SACRAMENTO, CA-- Brent Gray moved onto the NCAA Championship Finals on Saturday after finishing fifth overall with a school-record time of 20.51. He was just .13 seconds slower than Florida State's Charles Clark's Semifinal-best of 20.38. Gray finished ninth in the preliminary round with a time of 10.96. His previous school-record was 20.70. Kim Heinz will head to her second-straight NCAA Championship after finishing ninth with a throw of 161'6". Heinz will join Gray on Saturday, while discus thrower, Jennifer Onyeagbako will compete on Friday.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6
SACRAMENTO, CA-- Jennifer Onyeagbako qualified for the discus finals after tossing 171'11" for seventh place at the NCAA Championship Semifinals as the only Long Beach State athlete to advance on day one. Brent Gray, who qualified for the semifinals after finishing ninth earlier in the day with a time of 10.24, ran 10.42 for 16th and did not qualify for the Finals. Gray still has the 200-meter race to compete in, starting on Thursday.

Other newcomers struggled on the first day of competition for the 49ers. All-Region Tyson Gray, competing in his first NCAA Championship, finished 19th in the javelin with a toss of 202'1" in the preliminaries. The All-Region women's 4x100-meter relay team, the program's first women's relay team to run in a national race, finished their season with a time of 45.73 for 18th place.

Jill Reynolds, also in her first championship, finished 10th in her flight in the preliminaries, jumping 12'3.50", after reaching Nationals after an last minute at-large bid.

Long Beach State University Athletics

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