Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Heads to Triton Invitational
4/20/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Long Beach State Heads to Triton Invitational
The Long Beach State track & field team travels to San Diego, Calif., to compete in the Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego. The Triton Invitational is a two-day meet that starts on Friday, April 21, and wraps up on Saturday, April 22.
About The Triton Invitational
The Triton Invitational features more than 1,100 athletes from all across the country which will be competing over the next two days. As the did last week in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate and Beach Invitational, Long Beach State will be going up against world-class athletes and Olympians once again.
Schedule of Events
The Triton Invitational begins Friday, April 21 at 9:30 a.m. with the women's hammer throw. Friday features all field events and concludes with the women's discus at 4 p.m. Saturday begins with field events at 9:30 a.m. with the men's hammer throw, while track events are scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. The women's 400m relay kicks off the day on the track. The Triton Invitational will conclude with the the men's 5000m beginning at 6:35 p.m.
About the Beach
The Beach has multiple athletes currently ranked in the top 100 nationally according to the Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS).
On the men's side, Kemonie Briggs comes in ranked sixth in the nation in the long jump. He owns the LBSU school record mark with a distance of 7.99m (26-02.75). Vincent Calhoun has also done in solid job in the jumping events as he is 19th in the high jump (2.16m, 7-01.00). Senior Xander Cooper moved into 21st in the nation in the pole vault after setting a new personal-best height of 5.30m (17-04.50) last weekend at the Beach Invitational.
In the throwing events, Robert Marlow and James Hubbard are both ranked in the Top 25 in the hammer throw. Meanwhile Josh Carr's heave of 56.70m (186-00.00) in the discus is good for 23rd in the country.
On the women's side, Bria Palmer is 38th among all high jumpers with a mark of 1.76m (5-09.25). She set that mark last month at the USC Trojan Invitational.
Among throwers, De'Ondra Young is 26th in the hammer throw with a school record toss of 61.41m (201-06.00). She set her new PR at the Big West Challenge at the beginning of April.
Lastly, senior Riley Cooks is highly ranked in multiple events including the 100m hurdles, the long jump, and as high as 18th in the heptathlon with 5,432 points.
Big West Athlete of the Week
Long Beach State senior pole vaulter Xander Cooper was named Big West Men's Field Athlete of the Week it was announced by the league office Tuesday afternoon. Cooper earned the honors after turning in a pair of personal-best efforts at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate and Beach Invitational last week.
The senior out of Coronado, Calif., led the Beach in their two meets last week as he initially equaled his lifetime best of 5.20m (17-00.75) at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate finishing third in a field of 18 vaulters last Thursday. Cooper returned to Jack Rose Track that weekend to compete in the 23rd annual Beach Invitational and increased his personal-record almost four inches to a conference-leading 5.30m (17-04.50).
The mark moved him into the Long Beach State record books as he now sits in ninth all-time. Additionally, Cooper is ranked 11th in the West Region and is one of the top vaulter who will advance to next month's NCAA First Round in Austin, Texas as he is ranked 21st nationally.
Up Next
Long Beach State closes out the regular season at the Steve Scott Invitational hosted by UC Irvine. The two-day meet which runs from April 28-29 is the final meet before the Big West Championships kick off on May 5 in Fullerton, Calif.
Players Mentioned
