May 12, 2006
Northridge, Calif. - Both the Cal State Fullerton men and women were in fourth place after the first full day of competition at the Big West Conference Track and Field Championships at Cal State Northridge.
A one-two finish in the long jump paced the men toward 38.5 team points with Matt Turner winning with an NCAA regional qualifying jump of 24 feet, 8 1/2 inches, and Aaron Williams taking second at 24 feet, 3 1/2 inches. The Titans picked up 9.5 points in the pole vault where both B. J. Vandrovec and Andrew Little cleared 15 feet, 7 inches, to tie for third place. The Titans got 8 unexpected points in the hammer when Scott Hutchison placed second with a school record and an NCAA qualifying throw of 184 feet, 1 inch.
On the women's side, the Titans amassed 19 of their 26 points in the steeplechase where Karina Ortiz (11:08.27), Julianne Masciana (11:09.21) and Amanda Eichmann (11:17.53) all posted personal bests and ran two-three-four with Ortiz improving upon her own school record. Karen Bardsley picked up 3 points with a sixth-place showing in the javelin at 120 feet, 4 inches.
In the qualifying events, the Titan women put three runners in the 100 finals in Kristyne Hanberg, Yewande Findley and Antonia Vega but only two in the 200 in the persons of Vega and Findley. In the 400, Nancy Blake had the day's best time of 55.24 and will be joined by Kandace Wilson and Kimiah Hudson in the finals. Dinah Clark had the second best time in the 100 hurdles and Destany Cearley and Kristen Goossens qualified in the 400 hurdles.
In men's qualifying, Marques Barosso, John Bolton and John Pratter made the cut for both the 100 and 200. Jason Graney with a PR and Erby Houston made the finals of the 800 and Richard Hernandez advanced in the 400 hurdles.
"I can't recall us having a better first day," said veteran Head Coach John Elders. "Scott Hutchison really got the day started off right."
Cal Poly leads the men's scoring at 74.5 points followed by Long Beach State (59.5), UC Santa Barbara (49.5), Fullerton, Cal State Northrdige (22), UC Irvine (21) and UC Riverside (8).
The host Matadors lead the women's competition with 96 points ahead of Long Beach State (70), UCSB (49), Fullerton, UC Irvine (20), Cal Poly (8) and UCR (4).
Men's Results