Saturday, May 14
Davis, Calif.
All Day
Long Beach State University
at
Big West Championships
Women’s Track and Field Wins Second Big West Championship
5/14/2022 7:50:00 PM | Track and Field
The women recorded their highest team score in program history led by six total event victories on their way to the title.
DAVIS, Calif. – After ending day one of the conference championships, the Long Beach State women's team had an incredible day two claiming the second Big West Championship in program history. The men's team also had a great weekend, finishing second in the final standings.
Individually, the Beach also took home two Athlete of the Meet awards as Ryley Fick was named the Women's Track Athlete of the Meet and Jason Smith was named the Men's Field Athlete of the Meet. Fick picked up two championships on the weekend in the 3000m Steeplechase and 800m Run. Smith made history on his way to the award becoming the first athlete in conference history to win the Long Jump, High Jump, and Triple Jump titles.
The first event win for the women came from Crystal Washington who defended her crown in the women's Triple Jump. Launching herself 12.83m (42-1.25), she topped the competition by over a foot to claim the title. It is the fourth time a Beach athlete has won the event at the conference championships.
In High Jump, Imani Carmouche claimed the title clearing the bar at 1.82m (5-11.5) to lead a group of three LBSU point scorers. The 5-11.5 is the fifth highest clearance in program history and the highest mark since 2002. The senior is just the fourth different winner in program history for the event.
The other point scorers in High Jump were Clare Gibson, who finished third, with a season-best 1.71m (5-7.25) and Calista Apostol right behind her in fourth at 1.66m (5-5.25).
Out on the track, Natalie Tolento ran the best 400m race of her career, setting a new lifetime-best 55.76 on her way to the title. She is just the second women's athlete to win the 400m in program history with the other in 2018. Also scoring points in the race was Jaelyn Predium who crossed the line fifth with a time of 57.44 seconds.
As mentioned earlier, Fick claimed her second win of the weekend in the women's 800m. The junior posted a time of 2:09.00 in the victory, marking a new PR and improving on a time that already ranked number four in program history. She is also the first women's 800m for the Beach since 1988.
Along with Fick, Brieanna Tafoya and Bronwyn Bunnell scored points in the race for LBSU. Tafoya posted a career-best time of 2:12.17 on her way to a fifth place finish while Bunnell crossed the line eighth with a time of 2:14.65.
The women's team posted 95 points on day two alone with 15 point scoring efforts on Saturday. The 134 total points for the weekend is the most in program history.
On the men's side, the day started with a dominant performance in the Hammer Throw as Sebastian Coleman, Alec Jones, and Charlie Vernoy claimed the top three spots with Ryan Coy also scoring points in seventh. Coleman's winning throw of 65.86m (216-1) shatters his previous lifetime-best by almost three feet and moves him in to number five on the all-time LBSU list.
Vernoy and Jones kept things rolling with a one-two finish in men's Discus later on in the day. The duo has combined to win each of the last three Big West Discus titles with Vernoy capturing his second on Saturday. The senior captain posted a throw of 54.90m (180-1) to edge out Jones' (178-5).
Smith's Triple Jump was the final field event victory for the Beach of the weekend posting a mark of just over 50 feet in his second attempt giving him a pass until he had to complete one more attempt in the flight. He improved his mark by almost a full foot for a title-winning jump of 51 feet. For the weekend, he defended both his Long Jump and High Jump titles to go along with his first ever Triple Jump crown.
Elijah Harris and Benjamin Ahenguah also notched points in the Triple Jump for the Beach finishing sixth and eighth, respectively. Harris jumped 14.56m (47-9.25) while Ahenguah posted a mark of 14.45m (47-5).
Michael Phillips collected his second championship of the day, claiming the men's 1500m title on Saturday. Winning by over a second, the junior transfer posted a time of 3:48.20 for the win. He is just the second men's 1500m champion for the Beach in program history with the other coming back in 2000.
The men's team finish second in the team standings, an improvement on their third place last year. Their 173.5 total points for the weekend is the most since scoring 176 on their way to the 2016 championship.
With the first and second place finishes, Long Beach State was the only school to have both programs finish in the top four of both the men's and women's final team standings.
Individually, the Beach also took home two Athlete of the Meet awards as Ryley Fick was named the Women's Track Athlete of the Meet and Jason Smith was named the Men's Field Athlete of the Meet. Fick picked up two championships on the weekend in the 3000m Steeplechase and 800m Run. Smith made history on his way to the award becoming the first athlete in conference history to win the Long Jump, High Jump, and Triple Jump titles.
The first event win for the women came from Crystal Washington who defended her crown in the women's Triple Jump. Launching herself 12.83m (42-1.25), she topped the competition by over a foot to claim the title. It is the fourth time a Beach athlete has won the event at the conference championships.
In High Jump, Imani Carmouche claimed the title clearing the bar at 1.82m (5-11.5) to lead a group of three LBSU point scorers. The 5-11.5 is the fifth highest clearance in program history and the highest mark since 2002. The senior is just the fourth different winner in program history for the event.
The other point scorers in High Jump were Clare Gibson, who finished third, with a season-best 1.71m (5-7.25) and Calista Apostol right behind her in fourth at 1.66m (5-5.25).
Out on the track, Natalie Tolento ran the best 400m race of her career, setting a new lifetime-best 55.76 on her way to the title. She is just the second women's athlete to win the 400m in program history with the other in 2018. Also scoring points in the race was Jaelyn Predium who crossed the line fifth with a time of 57.44 seconds.
As mentioned earlier, Fick claimed her second win of the weekend in the women's 800m. The junior posted a time of 2:09.00 in the victory, marking a new PR and improving on a time that already ranked number four in program history. She is also the first women's 800m for the Beach since 1988.
Along with Fick, Brieanna Tafoya and Bronwyn Bunnell scored points in the race for LBSU. Tafoya posted a career-best time of 2:12.17 on her way to a fifth place finish while Bunnell crossed the line eighth with a time of 2:14.65.
The women's team posted 95 points on day two alone with 15 point scoring efforts on Saturday. The 134 total points for the weekend is the most in program history.
On the men's side, the day started with a dominant performance in the Hammer Throw as Sebastian Coleman, Alec Jones, and Charlie Vernoy claimed the top three spots with Ryan Coy also scoring points in seventh. Coleman's winning throw of 65.86m (216-1) shatters his previous lifetime-best by almost three feet and moves him in to number five on the all-time LBSU list.
Vernoy and Jones kept things rolling with a one-two finish in men's Discus later on in the day. The duo has combined to win each of the last three Big West Discus titles with Vernoy capturing his second on Saturday. The senior captain posted a throw of 54.90m (180-1) to edge out Jones' (178-5).
Smith's Triple Jump was the final field event victory for the Beach of the weekend posting a mark of just over 50 feet in his second attempt giving him a pass until he had to complete one more attempt in the flight. He improved his mark by almost a full foot for a title-winning jump of 51 feet. For the weekend, he defended both his Long Jump and High Jump titles to go along with his first ever Triple Jump crown.
Elijah Harris and Benjamin Ahenguah also notched points in the Triple Jump for the Beach finishing sixth and eighth, respectively. Harris jumped 14.56m (47-9.25) while Ahenguah posted a mark of 14.45m (47-5).
Michael Phillips collected his second championship of the day, claiming the men's 1500m title on Saturday. Winning by over a second, the junior transfer posted a time of 3:48.20 for the win. He is just the second men's 1500m champion for the Beach in program history with the other coming back in 2000.
The men's team finish second in the team standings, an improvement on their third place last year. Their 173.5 total points for the weekend is the most since scoring 176 on their way to the 2016 championship.
With the first and second place finishes, Long Beach State was the only school to have both programs finish in the top four of both the men's and women's final team standings.
Players Mentioned
Jumps
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Jumps
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Distance
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Jumps
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Throws
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Throws
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Distance
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Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Jumps
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