Long Beach State University
Big West Multis
Long Beach State Begins Big West Championships, Competes in Titan Tune-Up
5/6/2022 8:33:00 PM | Track and Field
The Beach had a busy day with athletes in Davis for the start of conference championships and in Fullerton for the final meet of the regular season.
DAVIS, Calif. - Big West Conference Championship season has officially begun with the multi-event championships starting on Friday afternoon in Davis.
Through five events of the men's Decathlon, Spencer Eley sits in eighth place overall with a total of 3,222 points. He finished the day with three new lifetime-bests on the day, starting with Long Jump where his mark of 6.33m (20-9.25) beat his previous PR by over two inches for a fifth place finish. Finishing ninth in both the Shot Put and High Jump, the junior posted new bests with a throw of 9.84m (32-3.5) in Shot Put and clearing the bar at 1.69m (5-6.5) in High Jump. On the track, he finished third in the 400m with a time of 51.04 and finished fourth in the 100m with a time of 11.35.
In the women's Heptathlon, Clare Gibson leads the trio of Long Beach State athletes in tenth with 2,629 points. Hailey Fune is twelfth with 2,233 points and Reynante in thirteenth with 1,807 points.
Primarily a jumper, Gibson is competing in her first multis event and posted lifetime-bests in the 100m Hurdles, Shot Put, and 200m Dash. In her normal event of High Jump, she posted a fourth place finish, clearing the bar at 1.55m (5-1).
Fune had a tremendous first day with a first place finish in the 100m Hurdles, crossing the line in 14.28 seconds. She ended the day with PRs in both Shot Put and 200m, but was unable to clear the bar in High Jump. Similarly, Reynante posted a lifetime-best in the Shot Put for her best performance of the day with a throw of 9.99m (32-9.5) shattering her previous best by almost three feet. She finished twelfth in the 100m Hurdles and fourteenth in the 200m, but was unable to clear the bar in High Jump.
All four Beach athletes will finish out multis weekend of the Big West Championships tomorrow afternoon with competition beginning at noon.
FULLERTON, Calif. - Out in Fullerton, the Beach had a very successful showing to end their regular season, posting four event victories and three new program top ten marks.
The throwers were the headliners of the team with Malia Talavou claiming the top spot in women's Shot Put. With a throw of 14.77m (4-5.5), she beat her previous lifetime-best by over three feet to move into eighth on Long Beach State's all-time list. She also moved into second on the Big West Conference performance list.
On the men's side, the trio of Sebastian Coleman, Charlie Vernoy, and Alec Jones finished one-two-three in both Hammer and Discus once again. Coleman was the top thrower in both events, including a throw of 58.58m (192-2) in Discus putting him at number seven on Long Beach State's all-time list. Vernoy's throw of 63.83m (209-5) in the Hammer marks a new lifetime-best and puts him in ninth all-time in program history. The senior also set a new season-best in Discus with a mark of 58.38m (191-6). Alec Jones competed in all three throws events finishing third in Hammer, fifth in Discus, and fifth in Shot Put. His throw in Shot Put went 14.87m (48-9.5) setting a season-best and tying his lifetime-best mark.
The trio owns the top three spots on the Big West performance list in both Hammer and Discus heading into the conference championships next week.
Cyprus Rice also picked up a victory on Friday claiming the top spot in men's Pole Vault. The freshman cleared 4.88m (16-0) in the win finishing shy of his PR. He ranks sixth in the conference heading into the Big West Championships.
The fourth win of the day came on the track as Alex Kalmar ran a fantastic 800m race. Setting a new lifetime-best, the freshman posted a time of 1:49.93 to finish atop the podium. His mark is just 0.03 seconds shy of tenth all-time. Connor Phillips beat his personal best by over a second finishing third with a time of 1:49.98.
Long Beach State will now spend the week preparing for the conference championships next week. UC Davis hosts the meet this year with competition all day Friday and Saturday.
Players Mentioned
