Long Beach State University
Beach Invitational
Another Great Meet Complete As Beach Invitational Finishes Final Day
4/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Long Beach, Calif. - On the final day of the Beach Invitational, Rio Gold Medalists and World Champions participated alongside the finest from Long Beach State and the NCAA in an exciting day of action.
"My evaluation of a meet that we host is that it went well if athletes performed well, not just ours, and I think we accomplished that today, said head coach Andy Sythe. "I'm really proud of everyone that made the event happen, and we're looking forward to even bigger and better things next year as we host this event for the 25th time."
Closing out the home meet with a win! @LBSU_Track_XC pic.twitter.com/qXsv1fiP8e
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) April 22, 2018
The field events were dominated by elite competitors, while amongst the collegiate teams, Long Beach State's relay units and women's sprinters stood out in a busy day at the Jack Rose Track.
Defending Gold Medalist Jeff Henderson won the men's long jump at 8.24, clearing 27 feet, while Saladin Nasser and Jason Smith both finished in the top 10, each jumping 7.58 meters, a PR for Nasser.
Another Gold Medalist grabbed a win in his signature event, as Christian Taylor jumped 17.15 meters to snag the Triple Jump victory, breaking the meet record in the process. Mesud Pezer of Boznia won the shot put with a throw of 19.82 meters in another event that featured elite competitors.
In an event that featured multiple top competitors, the men's discus won by three-time Olympian Ehsan Hadidi who broke the meet record with a 66.20m throw, winning a $1000 cash prize.
2016 Olympian Whitney Ashley won the women's discus with a throw of 61.10 meters, the only woman among 82 competitors to throw over 200 feet on Saturday. Fanny Roos broke the meet record in the women's shot put with a throw of 18.01 meters, winning the event by over five feet.
Out on the track, Long Beach State's women's sprinters got the day started off on the right foot, running 45 seconds flat to win the event over 21 other teams.
That was the first highlight in a big day for the sprinters. Courtne' Davis won the 100-meter dash with a wind-aided time of 11.30, a mark that would have been both the Long Beach State and meet record, while Ashleigh Chambers finished third with a wind-aided 11.49. Azaria Hill also had a good run, posting a time of 11.72 which is the sixth-best in school history, giving current 49ers three of the top 10 marks all-time for the program.
Davis and Chambers went one-two in the 200-meter dash, as Davis claimed her second event title with a time of 23.40 with Chambers just behind at 23.65. Shyann Reynolds and Anaya Alexander posted identical 55.24 times to both finish in the Top 10 in the 400-meter dash, while Taylor Owen set a PR in the 1500m with a time of 4:36.76.
In the hurdles, Shalee Reynolds improved on her sixth-best time at in the 400m Hurdles at the Beach, coming in fourth place with a time of 59.44, and Bria Palmer came in second in the high jump, matching her season best in the process.
On the track for the men, Daniel York-Mouton won the 400m dash with a PR of 47.06, while Kent Harris finished in third place in the 200m with a time of 21.48. The men's relay team then closed out the day with one more victory, winning the 4x400m relay with a season-best time of 3:09.92, setting a new meet record.
Among collegiate competition, the Long Beach State men were the top-scoring team at the meet, while the women were only second to Wyoming after two days at Jack Rose Track.
Long Beach State will next compete in the Steve Scott Invitational in Irvine over two days over April 27 and 28.
Players Mentioned
