Long Beach State University
Stanford Invitational
49ers Post Solid Start At Stanford Invite
4/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
April 5, 2008
Palo Alto, Calif. - Long Beach State's stay during day one of the Stanford Invitational was a good one, as the 49ers posted a number of solid marks at the large and high-profile meet. The 49ers had two individual event winners, as Jessica Branker picked up the 200m dash title, and Rob Jennings won the hammer throw out on the field.
Long Beach State's sprinters showed off on the first day of competition at the Stanford Invitational, as both Brent Gray and Jessica Branker had outstanding days. Both runners advanced to the finals of the 100m dash, as Gray posted a 10.71 and Branker ended with a 11.94 to qualify for the Beach. In the 200, Branker took center stage as she won the event with a time of 24.23, the top time of 40 participating runners. Gray also had a high finish, taking third with a mark of 21.23, and second among affiliated runners.
Senior Rob Jennings was the 49ers other winner on the day, making a long throw of 195'10" to take the Friday hammer throw title by over 14 feet. For the women out on the field, Kristina Price took second place in the Friday shot put with a season best of 45'2.50", and Alex Shaw placed second overall in the javelin with a throw of 164'3".
Along with Jennings among the field competitors, Tyson Gray threw a season-best of 191'1", and Colin Cram finished in second place in the pole vault, clearing 15'7" to lead the 49ers.
Back on the track, Alex Freitas took third place among collegiate runners in the 800, finishing with a time of 1:49.39, less than a tenth of a second off of his lifetime best in the event. Also making noise in the shorter events was Kristen Kiefer, whose 16.19 second time in the 100 hurdles marks as the No. 7 time in school history in just her second run at the event.
In the distance races, Travis Kuhlman set a PR in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:29.60. In the women's 5000m, Kristina Wilson also had a huge PR, knocking nearly 20 seconds off of her previous best with a time of 17:14.94.
The Stanford Invitational continues through late Saturday night, including the finals for many events including the 100m dash and the relays.
