FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton track and field hosted its final meet of the season on Saturday and sophomore Samantha Huerta highlighted the day with a school-record time of 2:07.36 in the 800 meters.
"I think the meet overall went really well for both our squads," head coach John Elders said. "We had a lot of season bests and career bests. We're still not 100% with all the little injuries we have so we're excited to see the development week-by-week. I thought it was really good for each team that competed and we had real track, spring weather so it was a great day."
Huerta's time of 2:07.36 is currently the top mark in the Big West Conference and the third-best mark in the NCAA West Region for the season. She broke Lakeysha McClenton's previous record of 2:09.75 set in 2002. She now owns two outdoor school records as she also holds the 1,500-meter record at 4:26.68 (mile converted).
"I'm not completely surprised because I know how talented she is and I didn't want to tell her how fast I think she can run because she wouldn't believe me. What I loved about her race was that we expected Cornell's runners to take the lead and set the tempo but Sam just took the lead herself. She's just such a competitor. The reason she ran fast is because she just competes, she doesn't care about time, she just competes and wants to win."
Thaddeus Smith won the 100-meter dash with a personal-best time of 10.44 (+1.8 wind). That time is tied with teammate Rasaun House's time for best in the league, although House's time was wind-aided. That mark of 10.44 is currently tied for 14th in the NCAA West Region. Smith also ran the 200-meter sprint and clocked a season-best time of 21.20 that was good for first place.
"Thaddeus' performance today was outstanding," Elders said." It's great to see him running at the level he is capable of running but I still think he's just scratching the surface. He's been tentative because of some past hamstring issues but he's starting to let loose and it's very exciting to see."
Anthony Applequist won the men's triple jump with a season-best mark of 50-5.5 (15.38m, +0.9 wind). That leap is good for 14th in the NCAA West Region and first in the Big West Conference. Patrick Ng took first place in the men's shot put with a personal-best toss of 52-0.25 (15.86m), the sixth-best mark in the league. Ng also won the hammer with another personal-best toss of 189-9.5 (57.85m), the No. 4 throw in the conference.
The men's 4x100-meter relay team won the race with a season-best time of 40.35 run by Luis Matos, Smith, House and Espinoza. India Owens, Zuri Henderson, Tyler Hardge and Kiana Clay clocked a season-best time of 3:46.15 in the women's 4x400-meter relay to take second place overall.
Marcel Espinoza made his season debut in the 400 meters and clocked a personal-best time of 47.37 to win the event.
Naiah Boardingham won the women's long jump with a mark of 19-7 (5.97m 0.0 wind) and Laura Hamann won the triple jump with a season-best mark of 39-8 (12.09m, 0.0 wind). Bryn Williamson and Alysse McMillen recorded season-best clearances in the women's pole vault at 12-7.5 (3.85m), good for a second place tie in the event.
In the women's hammer throw, Sinai Fatafehi had a season-best toss of 166-8 (50.82m) to take second place in the event.
The Titans return to action on April 6 for the Big West Challenge at UC Irvine's Anteater Stadium.
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