FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton track and field is set to compete at UC Irvine's Steve Scott Invitational this weekend. The meet begins at 1 p.m. PT on Friday and 12 p.m. PT on Saturday.
The Titans will compete against the host UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Fresno State, Cal Poly, Cal State Los Angeles and others.
Last weekend at the Bryan Clay Invitational, Samantha Huerta smashed her own school record in the 1,500-meter race by roughly seven seconds as she posted a time of 4:18.39, tops in the Big West. She set school records in each of the 800 meters, 1,500 meters and mile in 2018 and has broken each of them in 2019.
The Titans have had at least one Big West Athlete of the Week honoree in all but two weeks of the 2019 outdoor season. The most recent honoree was Marcel Espinoza, for the second time this season, as his time of 46.13 in the 400 meters at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational set a school record, breaking Darion Zimmerman's mark of 46.86 from 2017. The time also ranks as the 23rd-fastest in the country and 10th-best in the West Region. Espinoza and the 4x400-meter relay team clocked a season-best time of 3:10.11 to win the event.
In the men's sprints, the Titans own three of the top five spots in the Big West in the 100 meters and and four of the top five in the 200 meters, led by Mason Rollins in both at 10.45 and 21.20, respectively. Charles Kelly's 110mH time of 14.29 is fifth in the league on the year and his 400mH time of 52.65 is fourth. Diego Courbis' 400mH time of 52.88 is fifth. Espinoza (46.13) and Parris Samaniego (47.01) hold the top two times in the 400-meter race.
Jake Smith owns the top time in the conference in the 1,500 meters at 3:50.22 and Huerta is also first in that distance at 4:18.39. Huerta is tops in the 800 meters as well with a mark of 2:04.33. Trinity Ruelas holds the No. 3 mark in women's 5K at 16:32.56 with Alyssa Block at fifth at 16:43.95. Anthony Alfaro's 9:01.90 in the men's steeplechase is fisrt in the Big West while Jorge Sanchez's 3K steeplechase time of 9:05.27 is No. 2. On the women's side, Gabrielle De La Rosa is first at 10:50.53 while Kelsey Carroll is second at 10:53.55.
Kyle Beck (16-0.75, 4.90m) and Shelby Noble (12-7.5, 3.85m) are second and fifth, respectively, in the league in the men's and women's pole vault. Naiah Boardingham's women's long jump mark of 19-11 (6.07m) is second in the league. Iesha Hamm is third in the Big West in the women's high jump with a mark of 5-9.25 (1.76m). For the men's high jump, Marcel Sylvester is third as well with a mark of 6-9 (2.06m).
Sierra Valdivieso is second in the Big West in the women's discus with a mark of 168-0 (51.20m) while Bertha Sola is third at 161-11 (49.36m). Nicole Clark is second in the women's javelin with a toss of 159-7 (48.65m) and Sinai Fatafehi's toss of 180-7 (55.05m) in the hammer is good for fourth in the league. Trevor Gorwin is fourth in the conference in the men's hammer (198-3/60.47m) and fourth in the shot put (53-6.25/16.31m).
With the 2019 season under way, cross country and track and field head coach John Elders is in his 31st season at the helm of each program making him the longest tenured head coach in the history of Cal State Fullerton. Cal State Fullerton won the 2017 Big West Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the first conference title in program history, then repeated that feat in 2018 to become back-to-back champions.
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