FULLERTON, Calif. – On a day where 10 Titan track athletes advanced to the finals and six field athletes recorded top-10 finishes, it was Ashley Sims and Katie Wilson's performance in the 200-meter and 400-meter dash prelims that stole the show for Cal State Fullerton on day one of the Cal/Nevada Championships, Friday in La Jolla, Calif.
Sims ran a time of 24.27 and finished as the top overall qualifier in the 200-meter dash, while Wilson also was a top qualifier in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.02. Wilson also placed second in her heat in the 200-meter with a time of 24.96. Junior Deena Pierce had an impressive performance Friday and came away a double-qualifier in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles as she posted times of 14.20 and 61.98, respectively.
Top performers, Destinee Brown and Alexandria Stewart also managed to advance to the finals in their events, as Brown placed first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.29. Stewart finished second in her preliminary heat with a time of 12.23 and will compete in Saturday's 100-meter finals.
On the men's side Luis Matos qualified for Saturday's final in the 100-meter with a time of 10.92 and placed second in his heat on Friday, while teammate Taylor Ros qualified for the 400-meter finals after placing second with a time of 48.80.
"It was a great first day for the Titans at the Cal/Nevada championships and were excited for all the qualifiers and to see what they will do in tomorrow's finals," said head coach John Elders.
In the 800-meter run Brandon Cook and Shelby Hernandez Jr. both will advance to tomorrow's finals after running times of 1:54.14 and 1:55.04, respectively.
"Tomorrow's 800-meter dash is going to be an open race and anyone of the finalists has a shot at winning."
Also on the track, redshirt-freshman Brandon Perry set a personal best in the 5000-meter as he posted a time of 15:02.54, while freshman Jose Penaloza had a career day in a photo finish 5000-meter run with a time of 31:03.86 compared to first place finisher Jackson Bright of UC Santa Barbara who had a time of 31:03.77.
In the field events, Malek Walls had a season best in the long jump with a jump of 23-02.75 and Cliff King came in first in his flight in the hammer throw with a throw of 146-06. Freshman Bryn Williamson also performed a season best in the pole vault as she had a jump of 11-05.75. The Titans also witnessed junior Nicolette Garcia's personal best in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.30.