FULLERTON, Calif.—The Cal State Fullerton track and field team had a strong showing at the Big West Challenge Cup Friday night, as the Titans managed to win a season-high 10 track events on the evening, with seven coming on the women's side.
The highlight of the night came from the women's 4x400 meter relay, where Katie Wilson led a late charge, as the Titans squeaked out a thrilling win, finishing with a time of 3:46.05, as Fullerton edged UC Santa Barbara (3:46.38) by less than a millisecond. The combined time ran by Katie Wilson, Ashley Sims, Deena Pierce, and Alexandria Stewart now ranks as the second fastest in the conference.
The same group also took home the win in the 4x100 relay, as it ran a time of 46.21 to give the Titans the third best time in the conference in that event.
But this group wasn't done, as Wilson, Pierce, and Sims accounted for five of Fullerton's 10 overall event wins on the night.
Wilson went on to top off her career night by narrowly winning the women's 400-meter, as her season-best time of 54.96 just beat out UCSB Amanda Rodriguez's mark of 54.98. The time keeps Wilson in fourth in the Big West and 52nd the NCAA West Region.
Pierce came through with a solid night for the Titan women as well, winning the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 1:01.74, as the mark is currently good enough for fourth in the conference. She also ran a 14.39 to place third in the 100-meter hurdles.
Sims went on to win the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.81, while equaling a personal best time of 24.19 in the 200-meter and placing second.
Emily Taylor won the 3000-meter run with an impressive personal best time of 9:59.99, while Casey Candelaria ran a personal best 4:34.17 and won the 1500-meter run to round out the success for the Titan women.
On the men's side, Bryan Luther collected wins in both the 100 (10.71) and 200-meter (21.54) dash. His performance in the 200-meter was a personal best and keeps him in fourth place in the conference for that event.
Javon May (52.83) took home the win in the 400-meter hurdles for the second consecutive week, while Taylor Ros set a personal best and finished fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.22
"We had some really strong individual performances out there on the track side of things," said head coach John Elders. "This was another step in the right direction for us, and I'm excited to see what we can do next week."
Joshua Gordon, Jayson Perez, Toney Crutchfield, and Emmanuel Martinez also all set personal bests in their respective events, as Gordon ran a 49.35 in the 400-meter, Perez recorded a time of 9:27.86 in the 3000-meter steeplechase, Crutchfield ran a time of 11.09 in the 100-meter, and Martinez recorded a mark of 162-00 in the hammer throw.
After grasping some momentum over the weekend, the Titans now look ahead to next weekend, where Fullerton will send athletes to compete in both the MT. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. and the Beach Invite in Cerritos, Calif. this Friday and Saturday.