FULLERTON, Calif. — In the final event of the meet, the Cal State Fullerton men's track and field 4x400m relay team defeated Long Beach State by 0.02 seconds to win the race and clinch the squad's third straight Big West Championship. The Titans finished with two points more than the Beach in the final standings and would have placed second if not for the final result over Long Beach.
"It's special," head coach Marques Barosso said. "We have a bunch of young guys and a new team. Everyone came here for the culture. I just let them know that I'm here to put the team together and they build the culture. They're the ones that keep us winning."
The Big West title is the men's team's fifth in program history, with all five championships occurring since the 2017 season.
The Titans' 4x400m squad featured Reyte Rash, Dominic Gates, Isaiah Emerson and Justin Lowe as the anchor. Emerson gave Lowe a slight lead at the final handoff with one lap to go. Lowe maintained his lead throughout the first three-quarters of the lap, but saw Long Beach State's Caleb Roberson narrow the gap heading into the final 100m.
With both runners seemingly side-by-side down the stretch, Lowe leaned at the finish and held on, winning by just 0.02 seconds over the Beach. The Titans finished with a time of 3:10.35 to Long Beach State's 3:10.37. In the final standings, Fullerton came out on top with 184.50 points to the Beach's 182.50. Cal Poly placed third with 152 points.
FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP��
— Titans Track & Field (@FullertonTFXC) May 14, 2023
FULLERTON WINS THE 4X400M BY 0.02s FOR THE BIG WEST MEN'S TITLE #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/NSp1mTC1bB
On the women's side, the Titans placed eighth with 49.50 points. Long Beach State placed first with 149 points and Cal Poly took second with 117.33.
Several Titans stepped up this weekend to help bring home the men's team's third consecutive Big West Championship. John Clifford won gold in the men's 100m with a wind-aided time of 10.26. He also earned silver in the men's 200m with a time of 20.98, good for third best on the all-time program list. Clifford was named The Big West Men's Track Athlete of the Meet following the competition.
Reyte Rash won the men's 400m hurdles with a school-record time of 50.95, becoming the first Titan to ever run the event in under 51 seconds. Matt Cohen took third with a time of 53.17 and Andrew Aguilar placed fourth with a personal-best 53.69.
Matthew Uballe, Carter Birade and Abel Jordan swept the podium in the men's 110m hurdles, with Uballe winning gold after running a wind-aided time of 13.71. Birade ran a 13.88 to place second and Jordan claimed bronze with a time of 13.99.
Hawkin Miller was the Titans' fifth men's event winner of the weekend, claiming gold in the men's shot put after throwing for a mark of 17.42m. Camren Willis earned a second-place finish in the men's high jump, securing a personal-best mark of 2.06m. Jeff Morris took fourth with a mark of 2.01m.
In the men's 400m, Emerson placed second with a personal-best time of 46.99, a top-five time in program history. Chris Goode took third with a personal-best 47.44 and Lowe finished fourth with a 47.47. Alexis Garcia raced to a fourth-place finish in the men's 5000m with a 14:52.98 to highlight the Titans' distance competitors.
Trinity Barnett raced to a school-record time of 11.49 to win the women's 100m, besting Ciara Short's time from 2011 of 11.58. She placed fifth in the women's 200m with a personal-best time of 24.19. Arionn Livingston finished fifth in the women's 400m with a personal-best 55.85 while Alero Soaris took sixth with a 56.03.
In the women's pole vault, Ashley Harritt earned a fifth-place finish with a clearance of 3.75m. London Lee finished seventh in the women's triple jump, posting a mark of 11.92m. The women's 4x100m team took fourth with a time of 45.97.
Up next for the Titans is the NCAA West Preliminaries, which will take place May 24-27 in Sacramento.
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Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
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