Long Beach State Captures Three More Individual Titles on Final Day of Big West Championships

Saturday, May 15

Irvine, Calif.

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Long Beach State University

Big West Championships

Long Beach State Captures Three More Individual Titles on Final Day of Big West Championships

5/15/2021 7:27:00 PM | Track and Field

Long Beach State picked up individual championships in the women’s Triple Jump, men’s Discus, and men’s 4x100m Relay on the final day of the Big West Championships.

Results

IRVINE, Calif. – Long Beach State wrapped up the Big West Championships with three more event titles as Crystal Washington claimed the top spot in women's Triple Jump and Alec Jones won the men's Discus while Faris Babineaux, Kent Harris, Jason Smith, and Justin Watterson won the 4x100m title.

As a team, the men's side finished in third with a score of 152 points. The women's team ended up sixth with a total score of 51 points.

The field events wrapped up with the Triple Jump and the Discus Throw on Saturday, starting with the men's Triple Jump. With two titles already under his belt, Jason Smith came up just short finishing second-place at 15.33m (50-03.50).

On the women's side, Washington won the title with a mark of 12.34m (40-06.00) edging out second-place by four inches. With the win, she is just the third LBSU champion in the event in program history and first since 2008.

Jones' throw of 57.88m in the men's Discus topped the rest of the competition by 10 feet as he won his second championship of the weekend. At 189 feet, 10 inches, his throw ranks ninth-best in Long Beach State history.

Charlie Vernoy placed in his third event of the weekend claiming fourth place in Discus. His mark of 53.98m (178-11.00) was just under two feet shy of the third-place finisher.

On the women's side, Malia Talavou picked up a point for the Beach with a eighth-place finish. At 43.58m (142-11.00), her throw marks a new lifetime-best.

The men's 4x100m Relay team got things started on the track. Babineaux, Harris, Smith, and Watterson put together a time of 40.96 to claim the title. It marks the first time Long Beach State has won the event championship since 2008.

Sotomayor picked up a point-scoring spot in the men's 1500m Run. His time of 3:50.90 was good for fifth place.

Hailey Fune had a great showing in the 100m Hurdles, posting a time of 14.43, marking a new lifetime-best for the freshman finishing in third. Justin Watterson picked up points on the men's side finishing in fifth with a time of 14.58, also a new lifetime-best.

After helping the team to the 4x100m Relay title, Harris came back for the 100m Dash. The senior finished with a time of 10.77, good for fifth-fastest.

Raymon Ornelas posted a time of 14:27.92 in the 5000m Run, marking a lifetime-best for the sophomore.

The day ended with the 4x400m Relay where the same quartet of Beach sprinters posted a time of 3:14.74, good for fourth-place.

Smith was the top scorer for the Beach picking up two wins on the weekend as well as a runner-up finish to give him 28 points plus the relay championship. Vernoy placed in three different events giving him a total of 21 points. Jones was the third-highest scorer of the weekend totaling 20 points with a pair of victories.

Long Beach State will be idle this week as they prepare for the NCAA Regional Championships. The meet is scheduled for May 27-29 at Texas A&M.