Long Beach State University
Big West Championships
Fick, Coleman Highlight Fantastic Day One of Big West Championships
5/12/2023 9:08:00 PM | Track and Field
Long Beach State currently sits in first place in the women's standings and second in the men's.
FULLERTON, Calif. - Long Beach State had a dominant day one of the Big West Outdoor Championships on Friday as the women's team sits atop the team standings while the men are in second. Individually, they claimed three event titles with Sebastian Coleman winning two and Ryley Fick winning the third.
The women's team saw seven student-athletes score points as they have a total of 52.50, 15.5 ahead of the next team. The men's team had eight point scorers on the day and own 65.5 overall, 13.5 points ahead of second place.
Coleman headlined the men's competitors as a double champion in the throws events. His first win came in the men's Hammer with a throw of 64.64m (212-1) to defend his crown and become the third consecutive Hammer champion for the Beach. Not too long after, he posted a lifetime best mark of 59.35m (194-8) in Discus. That throw moves him up to number five on the program all-time list and makes him the fourth consecutive Discus champion for LBSU.
Fick was the other star of the day defending her title in the women's 3000m Steeplechase. Posting a time of 10:14.49, she was almost a full seven seconds faster than the runner-up and set a new meet record for the Big West Championships, previously held by Long Beach State's Jessica Barnard set in 2012. Fick would be back on the track a little bit later posting the second fastest time in the 800m Prelims (2:11.57) to qualify for Saturday's final.
While Coleman won both titles, he was the front half of a one-two finish in both the Hammer and Discus events. In Hammer, Pablo Gamez was the runner-up posting a throw of 60.70m (199-1) while TJ Wiggins finished second in the Discus with a throw of 56.89m (186-7) for a new lifetime best.
The Beach had a pair of runner-up finishes in the jumps as well with Elijah Harris taking second in Long Jump with a PR of 7.45m (24-5.5) and freshman Hannah Butler clearing the bar at 1.71m (5-7.25) for a lifetime best of her own.
Out on the track, Long Beach State had a total of 21 (11 women, 10 men) qualifiers throughout the day.
The duo of Rahni Turner (13.34) and Hailey Fune (13.70) dominated the women's 100m Hurdles for a one-two finish to move onto tomorrow's finals. Kaitlyn Williams (11.52, 100m) and Alex Heerink-van Breda (59.55, 400mH) each posted lifetime bests that rank sixth and eighth, respectively, in program history to qualify for their finals.
The men's runners had a pair of one-two finishes in the prelims in the 200m and 800m races. In the 200m, Mekhi Mays crossed the line in 21.03 seconds for the fastest time followed closely by Tristyn Flores with a PR of 21.09 for the second place qualifying spot. In the 800m, it was the pair of Kash Powell and Mohammed Mohamed taking the top two spots with times of 1:50.03 and 1:50.42, respectively. Caleb Roberson (51.63, 400mH) and Flores (10.38, 100m) also posted event-leading marks in the prelims.
The Beach will look to preserve their leads on the final day of the Big West Championships tomorrow. Competition on the field begins at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the track.
LONG BEACH STATE POINT SCORERS
- Ryley Fick (1st, 10pts) - Women's 3000m Steeplechase
- Sebastian Coleman (1st, 10pts) - Men's Hammer
- Sebastian Coleman (1st, 10pts) - Men's Discus
- Hannah Butler (2nd, 8pts) - Women's High Jump
- Pablo Gamez (2nd, 8pts) - Men's Hammer
- TJ Wiggins (2nd, 8pts) - Men's Discus
- Elijah Harris (2nd, 8pts) - Men's Long Jump
- Kaitlyn Williams (3rd, 7pts) - Women's Long Jump
- Malia Talavou (4th, 5pts) - Women's Discus
- Hailey Fune (t4th, 4.5pts) - Women's High Jump
- Keeley Rasmussen (5th, 4pts) - Women's Hammer
- Cyprus Rice (5th, 4pts) - Men's Pole Vault
- Novye Jamees (5th, 4pts) - Men's Long Jump
- Tayah DeSousa (6th, 3pts) - Women's Long Jump
- Nathan Garibay (t7th, 1.5pts) - Men's Pole Vault
LONG BEACH STATE TRACK QUALIFIERS
- Rahni Turner (1st) - Women's 100m Hurdles
- Kaitlyn Williams (1st) - Women's 100m
- Alex Heerink-van Breda - Women's 400m Hurdles
- Tristyn Flores (1st) - Men's 100m
- Kash Powell (1st) - Men's 800m
- Caleb Roberson (1st) - Men's 400m Hurdles
- Mekhi Mays (1st) - Men's 200m
- Hailey Fune (2nd) - Women's 100m Hurdles
- Kaitlyn Williams (2nd) - Women's 200m
- Ryley Fick (8th) - Women's 800m
- Mohammed Mohamed (2nd) - Men's 800m
- Tristyn Flores (2nd) - Men's 200m
- Cristian Martinez (3rd) - Men's 1500m
- Mekhi Mays (3rd) - Men's 100m
- Michael Phillips (4th) - Men's 1500m
- Tayah DeSousa (5th) - Women's 100m Hurdles
- Jaelyn Predium (6th) - Women's 400m
- Jayda Rustemoglu (6th) - Women's 200m
- Hailey Danskin (8th) - Women's 100m Hurdles
- Jayda Rustemoglu (8th) - Women's 100m
- Quinn Garity (12th) - Men's 1500m
Players Mentioned
