Long Beach State University
Mt. SAC Relays
49ers Complete Mt. SAC Relays Competition
4/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
April 21, 2008
Walnut, Calif. - Tyson Gray picked up a season-high in the javelin to become the 10th athlete for Long Beach State men's track to qualify for the NCAA Regionals during the 2008 season. Gray's effort was one highlight of a busy, split weekend at the Mt. SAC Relays.
Long Beach State's time at the Mt. SAC Relays began on Thursday during the distance races. The 49ers had two more runners meet Big West qualifying times, as Carly Harris and Jennifer Rodriguez both met the mark with times of 17:42.83 and 17:45.86 respectively in the 5000m. Sarah Apgar had the top time for the Beach in the event, running a 16:56.96.
Long Beach State's sprinters had a big day on Friday, one day before the Beach Invitational. Austin Fowler's big weekend continued at the Mt. SAC Relays, as he won two events. His 10.56 PR in the 100m dash was good for first place, and his 21.15 in the 200 was part of a 1-2 finish for the 49ers, easily surpassing his previous best and qualifying for the NCAA Regionals. Kelsey Caesar took second place in the 200 with a time of 21.36, one hundredth of a second over qualifying.
Caesar also finished third in the 400m, running a season high 47.62 on Friday. He was joined by Chris Lawson among the Friday track highs, as Lawson finished second in the 110m hurdles, finishing in a time of 14.52.
The women's relay teams both set season highs at the Mt. SAC Relays as well. The 4x400 team finished with a time of 3:44.88, and the 4x100m team just missed NCAA qualifying with a time of 45.84.
The 49ers had a number of invitational competitors as well on the final day of the meet. Tyson Gray joined Chris Richardson as a Beach invitee to the NCAAs in the javelin. Gray tossed a season-high 208'3."
Rob Jennings also had a season high out on the field, throwing 182'10" in the discus for Long Beach State.
Jessica Branker had a pair of races on Sunday out on the track. Branker won the 100m dash with a time of 11.75, and finished second in the 200m with a season high of 23.94. Alex Freitas was also a winner on Sunday, taking first place in the 800m run with a time of 1:49.96.
Long Beach State will send detachments of athletes to a number of different events this upcoming weekend in a recovery week from a busy week last week. The 49ers will have one more major tuneup at the Steve Scott Invitational on May 3-4 prior to the Big West Championships, beginning with the heptathlon and decathlon on May 9.
