Long Beach State University
Big West Challenge
Women's Sprinters Excel Again At Big West Challenge
4/6/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Irvine, Calif. - Long Beach State's women finished in second place at the Big West Challenge, winning all three sprints in the four-team event in Irvine. The LBSU men finished in third place, led by two first place finishes in the field events.
Long Beach State's women finished the meet with 180.5 points, just 4.5 points behind UC Santa Barbara, while the men ended the day in third place with 169.5 points as Cal State Fullerton took the men's lead.
"We picked up several regional marks today, which was an emphasis of ours coming into the meet," said head coach Andy Sythe. "Injuries hampered us today, but we'll work on coming back from this one and look towards the Big West Conference meet. We can execute better, and we'll try to see a different outcome there."
Sophomore Anaya Alexander won the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.45, smashing her own PR and recording the third-fastest time in the event in school history and the fastest this season in the Big West.
In the 100m, Courtne' Davis tied her PR with an 11.50 in the 100-meter dash, winning the event, while Ashleigh Chambers set a personal-best 11.59 while finishing third. The duo also finished 1-2 in the 200m, with Davis running a 23.71 to win the event while Chambers came in second with a 23.88.
The women's sprinters also won the 4x400m relay, and came in second in the 4x100m relay. Additionally, Senior Elijah McDonald came in second place in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.52.
In the field events, Long Beach State swept the podium places in the high jump, as junior Bria Palmer won the event by clearing 1.70m while Meghan Sweeney finished in second and Delaney Smith took third. Melanee Williams and Allison Foster both set season highs in the long jump, finishing in third and fourth place respectively.
Crystal Rodriguez uncorked a discus throw of 49.06 meters, the tenth-farthest in school history on the way to a second-place finish, and also finished in third place in the javelin, one place behind Cassandra Nychay who threw 39.91 meters.
On the men's side, Jason Smith had a tremendous day in the jumps. Smith took second place in both the long jump and the high jump, and placed third in the triple jump, accounting for 20 total points on the day for the Beach. Junior Blair Robinson also had a pair of top three finishes, taking second in the triple jump and third in the long jump.
The Beach had a pair of one-two finishes in the field events Friday as well. Michael Magula and Dustin Wert both cleared 4.80 meters, with Magula clearing one attempt earlier to claim the win. Nicholas Hudson and Josh Carr also both set career bests in the hammer, with Hudson tossing the second-best mark this season in the Big West with a 61.36m throw, becoming just the 8th 49er to break the 200-foot mark.
Out on the track for the Beach, Kent Harris had a pair of top three finishes, placing second in the 100-meter dash before taking third in the 200m with a personal best 21.34. Daniel York-Mouton and Isaiah Johnson finished second and third in the 400m for the Beach. Devon Alvarado took third in the 110-meter hurdles, as did Braeden Kraft in the 800-meter run.
The 4x400 relay team then completed an LBSU sweep of the event, winning the final event of the day with a time of 3:12.25.
Long Beach State is back in action next weekend, when the team travels south to the Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego. The two-day meet begins on April 13.
Players Mentioned
