Long Beach State Track and Field Turns in Quality Day Two at UCLA

Saturday, March 26

Los Angeles, Calif.

All Day

Long Beach State University

Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Track and Field Turns in Quality Day Two at UCLA

3/26/2022 7:13:00 PM | Track and Field

Results

The Beach had majority of their athletes jump in the Big West rankings.

By: Collin Robinson, Associate Athletics Communications Director

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – After the throwers and distance runners got the competition started at UCLA yesterday afternoon, the success carried over on day two. In total, the Beach notched eight event victories.

Results

Saturday saw the return of Jason Smith on the field. The fifth year senior competed in his first jump event since last June at the Olympic Trials. Without skipping a beat, he won the men's Long Jump with a jump of 7.49m (24-7). His mark ranks number one in the Big West.

After a Big West leading performance last weekend, Imani Carmouche had a fantastic encore performance in women's High Jump. Clearing the bar at 1.75m (5-8.75), she claimed her second straight High Jump victory. She also launched herself 5.65m (18-6.5) in Long Jump for a new lifetime-best and ranking number four in the conference.

School record holder, Crystal Washington, continued to dominate women's Triple Jump. She jumped 12.56m (41-2.5) on Saturday to win the event. She still leads the Big West this season and ranks fifth in all of NCAA.

The men's Discus Invite was all Long Beach State on Saturday, as the Beach claimed the top three spots in the event. Charlie Vernoy claimed the top spot with a throw of 56.98m (186-11) with Sebastian Coleman (56.02m, 183-9) and Alec Jones (54.80m, 179-9) finished second and third respectively. The trio also owns the top three marks in the Big West Conference. Coleman leads the way ranking seventh in the nation.

On the track, Rahni Turner and Joseph Anderson each picked up victories in the 100m and 110m Hurdle races respectively. Turner posted a time of 13.72 in the win and owns the second fastest time in the Big West while Anderson's time of 14.15 also has him in the number two spot for the event in the conference's performance list.

Mohammed Mohamed raced to a new lifetime-best in the men's 800m. Posting a time of 1:50.92, he won the event for the second time and now ranks second in the conference.

The team's final event win came in the men's Discus Open, Pablo Gamez claimed the top spot with a throw of 47.52m (155-11).

In women's Long Jump, Kaitlyn Williams led the way with a third place finish with a mark of 5.63m (18-5.75). Tayah DeSousa (5.37m, 17-7.5) and Maddie DeBorde (5.27m (17-3.5) were the other top two jumpers in the event finishing seventh and ninth, respectively. The Beach women's jump squad currently owns four of the top five marks in the Big West.

Vernoy also finished third in the men's Shot Put Invite on Saturday, posting a season-best 16.74m (54-11.25) throw. He currently ranks third in the conference in the event.

Led by Malia Talavou, the women's throwers posted some of the best marks in the Big West this season on Saturday. The senior captain finished fifth in Shot Put with a new lifetime-best 13.48m (44-2.75) which ranks fourth in the league. She also posted a fifth place throw of 13.48m (44-2.75) in the Shot Put invite. The throw marks another new lifetime-best and ranks fourth in the conference.

Brianna Uipi moved into the league's top ten in Shot Put as well posting a new lifetime-best mark of 13.22m (43-4.5). She finished eighth in the invite.

Finishing up the top field event performers, Benjamin Ahenguah posted a new lifetime-best of 14.07m (46-2) in men's Triple Jump for the number four spot in conference. Mikayla Ray matched her lifetime-best in women's Pole Vault at 3.74m (12-3.25) to move into fifth in the Big West. Michael Hull moved into the conference's top ten in men's Long Jump launching himself 6.72m (22-0.75).

Long Beach State came out with a pair of second place finishes in both men's and women's 4x100m Relay races. The women's team of Jaelyn Predium, LeNaya Griffin, Kaitlyn Williams, and Rahni Turner posted a time of 46.64 ranking second in league while the men's team of Michael Hull, Joseph Anderson, Justin Watterson, and Malik Harness raced to a 40.82. While it's not their best time this season, the quartet still owns the fastest time in the Big West.

Anthony Palumbo and Harness finished neck and neck in the men's 100m posting times of 10.70 and 10.71, respectively. The duo now own the fifth and sixth fastest times in the conference. On the women's side, Kaitlyn Williams ran to an 11.96 to finish fifth on the day.

Already owning the fastest 200m time, LeNaya Griffin raced to a third place finish on Saturday with a time of 24.47. Teammate, Jaelyn Predium, finished sixth with a new lifetime-best time of 24.97.

The Beach also saw conference top ten marks from Joseph Anderson (53.90, men's 400m Hurdles), Justin Watterson (54.97, men's 400m Hurdles), Brieanna Tafoya (2:13.95, women's 800m), Bronwyn Bunnell (2:14.26, women's 800m), and Austin Brown (21.62 men's 200m).

The Beach is back next weekend with competition at the Hayward Premiere in Oregon as well as the West Coast Relays at Fresno State.