SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton track and field opened up the Big West Championships on Friday at Pauley Track Facility in Santa Barbara, Calif. Iesha Hamm headlined the day as she took home conference title in the women's high jump while setting a school record in the event. The women's team is in first place by 0.5 points after the first day with 61 points while the men have 23 points in fifth place. Competition resumes on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT for field events and 2 p.m. PT for track events.
Hamm had a personal-best clearance of 5-11.25 (1.81m) to break her own school record of 5-10 (1.78m). Hamm's mark is currently tied for No. 13 in the country. With her victory, she is the first Titan in program history to win the Big West Women's High Jump title. Alexis Vincent-Walker tied for fifth place with a 5-5 (1.65m) clearance.
Congrats to Iesha Hamm on winning the first @BigWestXCTF Women's High Jump title in program history. And she did so in school-record fashion, clearing 5-11.25 (1.81m). #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/qZITwdsmnu
— Titans Track & Field (@FullertonTFXC) May 11, 2019
Anthony Alfaro and Jorge Sanchez went 2-3 in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase with respective times of 8:57.64 and 8:57.74. Gabrielle De La Rosa's time of 10:42.60 was good for third place in the women's 3K steeplechase. Kelsey Carroll finished in fifth with a PR of 10:50.06 while Sarah Hollis posted a personal-best time of 10:53.60 in sixth place. Lucina Vincent's women's 10K time of 35:26.85 was good for third place overall while Alyssa Block took sixth place at 36:29.91
Nicole Clark (158-11/48.44m) and Kelsey McKelvey (146-5/44.64m) took third and fourth place, respectively, in the women's javelin. McKelvey's toss was a personal best. Clark, a senior and junior college transfer, has been on the podium in each of her two seasons as a Titan since she won the title in 2018.
Bertha Sola earned a runner-up finish in the women's discus with a toss of 159-0 (48.48m). Sierra Valdivieso's toss of 157-2 (47.92m) was good for fifth place.
Tanner Miller (187-1/57.03m) and Trevor Gorwin (185-2/56.44m) took fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the men's hammer throw to score 9 points for the squad.
In the women's pole vault, Shelby Noble and Mariah Lark both cleared 12-3.25 (3.74m). Noble took sixth place while Lark tied for eighth overall.
In the preliminary round of the women's 1,500-meter race, Samantha Huerta posted the top qualifying time at 4:27.90 while Sandra Flores' time of 4:29.98 was good for seventh place. Both will compete in the final. The duo also qualified for the final of the 800 meters with Huerta running the prelim in 2:10.53 (first place) and Flores in 2:12.03 (sixth place).
SAMANTHA HUERTA (@FullertonTFXC) is No. 12 in the nation in the women's 800 meters. She's the top finisher in the prelims (2:10.53) and the favorite in Saturday's finals.#TusksUp | #LeaveALegacy pic.twitter.com/kBNNxYNPuK
— BigWestXCTF (@BigWestXCTF) May 11, 2019
On the men's side, Jake Smith's time of 3:55.86 was good for fifth place and a spot in Saturday's final. In the men's 800 meters, Erick Juarez took eight place with a time of 1:54.80 to qualify for the final.
In the men's 400 meters, Marcel Espinoza (46.97, first place), Parris Samaniego (47.26, third place) and Chris Shiley (47.41, fifth place) each qualified for the final. On the women's side, Zuri Henderson's time of 56.15 was good for fifth place and a spot in the final.
Each of Mason Rollins (10.53, +0.9 wind, first place), Rasaun House (10.53, +1.8 wind, second place) and Marquis Rogers (10.73, +1.6 wind, sixth place) qualified for the final of the men's 100-meter dash. Elani Rice clocked a time of 11.81 in the women's 100 meters to take eighth place overall and earn a spot in the final. She also earned a spot in the 200-meter final with her 24.36 (-0.3 wind) time in the preliminary round.
Rollins (21.38, 0.1 wind, second place), House (21.43, +1.6 wind, third place), Espinoza (21.57, +1.6 wind, fourth place) and Samaniego (21.63, +0.7 wind, fifth place) all qualified for the final of the men's 200-meter sprint.
Charles Kelly qualified for the final of the men's 110-meter hurdles with a preliminary time of 14.53 (-1.7 wind). Kelly (52.78) and Diego Courbis (53.47) qualified for the final of the men's 400-meter hurdles. On the women's side in the 100-meter hurdles, Mariah Stewart (14.38, -1.5 wind) and Kyra Anderson (14.40, -0.9 wind) took sixth and eighth place respectively in the preliminary round to earn their spots in the final.
WATCH: IESHA HAMM (@FullertonTFXC) becomes the first Titan to win the women's high jump in Big West meet history (since 1984)! She breaks her own school record of 5-11.25 on this leap.#TusksUp | #LeaveALegacy pic.twitter.com/bSnSMo0EHz
— BigWestXCTF (@BigWestXCTF) May 11, 2019
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