Long Beach State University
NCAA West Regional
49ers Advance Two Athletes To National Championships On Day One
5/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 30, 2008
Northridge, Calif. - Chris Richardson and Katelyn Ciarelli both finished the day with a ticket to the NCAA Finals as both seniors put together top performances. Richardson set a lifetime best in the javelin with a throw of 224'10" to take third place, while Ciarelli finished fifth overall in the discus with a mark of 165'7"
With only half of the field events posting finals on the day, the 49ers still have plenty of action in store for Saturday. In other events finishing on Friday, Jill Reynolds cleared 12'0" in the pole vault, and Tyson Gray threw a season high 211'10" in the javelin, joining Richardson in that event.
Out on the track, the 49ers put themselves in good position for the finals tomorrow, as a number of athletes advanced to the second day. The men's 4x100 relay team posted the second-fastest time of the day, a 39.97 to earn a spot in the finals for both relays.
Two members of that team, Brent Gray and Austin Fowler also had big days. Both runners qualified for the finals in the 100 and 200m dashes. Gray's 10.40 in the 100 was the no. 2 time of the day, while Fowler finished in 10.58. Sixth and eighth place finishes in the 200 also earned the pair a spot in the finals for that race as well.
In the middle distances, Alex Freitas took sixth in the 800m prelims, running a 1:51.00 flat, and Jessica Branker qualified for an extra day of competition in two races, finishing the 100m in 11.63 before qualifying in the 200m as well.
Regional competition concludes tomorrow as the finals for all of the track events begin, as well as the second half of the field events. Events start at 10:00 a.m. in Northridge.
Players Mentioned
