May 13, 2011

Big West Championship Central | Live Results

IRVINE, Calif. - Senior Calvin Thigpen delivered a career-best time to win an exciting 10,000-meter run while senior Ray Green had a personal-best in the long jump as both claimed titles for UC Davis on Friday at the Big West Conference Track and Field Championships at UC Irvine.

Finals were held in four field and two running events on Friday with UC Davis - sparked by 22 points in the long jump - scoring 55 points for third place in the men's race. Lauren Radke's runner-up placing in the pole vault scored eight points for the Aggie women who tallied 33 overall and are in fourth.

Fourteen finals for both the men and women are up for grabs Saturday with both Aggie teams pushing seven competitors through Friday's prelims.

Thigpen won his first career Big West track title, doing so in an exciting race that saw the top four finishers separated by less than two seconds. He was timed in 30 minutes, 14.59 seconds; a 14-second improvement over the 30:28.90 he posted at the Stanford Invitational in March.

The time also bumped him up two spots to eighth on the program's all-time list. Thigpen led two Aggies in the top four with teammate Axel Stanovsky also part of the lead pack, finishing fourth in 30:16.37, and placing him 10th all-time at UC Davis.

Green, who won the Big West's triple jump last year, was one of three Aggies in the long jump's top five places which also included runner-up Robert Neely and fifth-place Will Guthrie.

Green flew 24 feet, 2.25 inches to claim the event's title, a mark that was nearly three inches further than his previous best and also pushed him up a spot into seventh on the all-time list. Neely also came through with a career-best jump, going 23-8 to just miss the all-time list.

Senior Eddie Orgon added eight more points for UC Davis, placing second in the shot put with a mark of 54-2.75 that came on his second attempt. Freshman Brandon Greenberg's fifth place added four points. The Aggies scored their other six points on a third-place performances from freshman Maurice Spikes in the high jump (6-6.75) and senior Russ Pfaff in the steeplechase (9:23.93).

Seven Aggies moved through prelims on Friday, including seniors Thomas Phillips (51.60) and Alex Wright (52.00) who had the two fastest times in the 400 hurdles. Sophomore Jeffrey Campbell, who was sixth in the prelims, will join them in the finals.

Freshmen Kevin Griffith and Nathan Strum were fourth and fifth, respectively, to advance in the 800, freshman Karl Moran (48.40) was second in the 400 and Neely moved on in the 110 high hurdles.

The UC Davis women scored in four of the six finals contested on Friday, scoring half their day's total in the pole vault with Radke's second-place award and Emily Bush's fourth-place performance.

Radke had a strong mark, clearing 12-5.50, just shy of her career-best 12-6.75, and carding eight points for UC Davis. Bush went 11-11.75, her second-best performance of the season.

Steeplechasers Caitlin Fitzgerald (10:32.80) and Samanth Kearney (10:50.58) were third and fifth, respectively, to add 10 points while Krista Drechsler was an impressive third in the 10,000 (35:23.52) for six points and Kristine Lozoya (36:31.29) was fifth for four more.

Senior Chidinma Onyewuenyi provided the Aggies' remaining points on Friday after finishing sixth in the discus.

Seven Aggie women also qualified for finals on Saturday including double-qualifiers Melanise Chapman, who was second in the 100 (11.79) and third in the 200 (24.52), and senior Ugo Eke who was second in the 400 (54.95) and fourth in the 200 (24.61).

Alycia Cridebring had the 1,500's second-fastest time (4:40.52) to advance to that final while teammate Kristine Taylor also qualified after finishing sixth in 4:42.67. Other qualifiers included Shanie Landen in the 400 and Lauren Wallace in the 800.

Suzanne Howard had a notable day while moving on in the 400 hurdles. She was fourth in a career-best time in 1:01.73, debuting her sixth on the all-time list. She is the first person to crack that chart in three seasons.

Long Beach State scored 76 points to take the early lead in the men's competition with UC Davis a half-point behind second-place UC Santa Barbara (55.5 points).

Defending champion Cal State Northridge has 64 points to lead the women's race. The Aggies are just one point behind UCSB which is currently third with 34.

Saturday's field events start at 10 a.m. while events on the track start at 3:30 p.m.

BIG WEST TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Irvine, Calif. (hosted by UC Irvine)
Day 1 of 2
Winners and UC Davis results only
All events finals unless noted

MEN
TEAM (7 events) - 1. Long Beach State, 76; 2. UC Santa Barbara, 55.5; 3. UC DAVIS, 55; 4. Cal Poly, 37; 5. UC Irvine, 19; 6. UC Riverside, 12; 7. Cal State Northridge, 10.5; 8. Cal State Fullerton, 8.
100 (prelims) - 1. Jamison Jordan, Cal Poly, 10.53... 16. Gavin Banks, 10.95.
200 (prelims) - 1. Jamison Jordan, Cal Poly, 21.37... 14. Hosea Tate, 22.47.
400 (prelims) - 1. Bryan Adams, UC Riverside, 48.37... 2. Karl Moran, 48.40.
800 (prelims) - 1. Ryan Martin, UC Santa Barbara, 1:50.42... 4. Kevin Griffith, 1:51.25; 5. Nathan Strum, 1:15.12.
110HH (prelims) - 1. Michael Woodham, CS Northridge, 14.23... 7. Robert Neely, 15.06 (wa); 9. Nolan Frazier, 15.23.
400H (prelims) - 1. Thomas Phillips, UC Davis, 51.60... 2. Alex Wilright, 52.00; 6. Jeffery Campbell, 53.48.
10,000 - 1. Calvin Thigpen, UC Davis, 30:14.59... 4. Axel Stanovsky, 30:16.37.
Steeplechase - 1. Anthony Masci, UC Santa Barbara, 9:05.10... 6. Russ Pfaff, 9:23.93.
HJ - 1. Mitchell Haag, UC Santa Barbara, 2.06 (6-09.00)... 6. Maurice Spikes, 2.00 (6-06.75); 12. Ross Tate, 1.85 (6-00.75).
LJ - 1. Ray Green, UC Davis, 7.37 (24-02.25)... 2. Robert Neely, 7.21 (23-08.00); 5. Will Guthrie, 7.08 (23-02.75); 16. Sava Boyadjiev, 6.49 (21-03.50).
SP - 1. Cesar Puga, Long Beach St., 17.48 (57-04.25)... 2. Eddie Orgon, 16.53 (54-02.75); 5. Brandon Greenberg, 16.10 (52-10.00); 14. Justin Kirkland, 13.33 (43-09.00).
HT - 1. Colin Dunbar, LBSU, 68.12 (223-06)... 9. Eddie Orgon, 51.26 (168-02); 16. Brandon Greenberg (37.22 (122-01).

WOMEN
TEAM (7 events) - 1. Cal State Northridge, 64; 2. Long Beach State, 49; 3. UC Santa Barbara, 34; 4. UC DAVIS, 33; T5. UC Riverside, 32; T5. Cal Poly, 32; 7. UC Irvine, 18; 8. Cal State Fullerton, 11.
100 (prelims) - 1. Sherrina Lofton, CS Northridge, 11.79... 2. Melanise Chapman, 11.79; 11. Mina Mohamadi, 12.28; 14. Kandyce Doxey, 12.43; 16. Leslie Reed, 12.61; 17, Kellie Grigg, 12.72.
200 (prelims) - 1. Ciara Short, CS Fullerton, 23.48... 3. Melanise Chapman, 24.52; 4. Ugo Eke, 24.61; 13. Leslie Reed, 25.36; 18. Kellie Grigg, 26.02.
400 (prelims) - 1. Ciara Short, CS Fullerton, 54.34... 2. Ugo Eke, 54.95; 7. Shanie Landen, 56.33; 11. Alana Babers, 57.08.
800 (prelims) - 1. Maggie Newton-Neal, UC Irvine, 2:11.73... 6. Lauren Wallace, 2:13.72; 13. Melinda Zavala, 2:14.95; 15. Jalicia Cox, 2:17.23.
1500 (prelims) - 1. Rosa Del Tora, LBSU, 4:29.13... 2. Alycia Cridebring, 4:40.52; 6. Kristina Taylor, 4:42.67; 13. Samantha Kearney, 4:46.26.
10,000 - 1. Breanne Strenkowski, UC Santa Barbara, 34:57.59... 3. Krista Drechsler, 35:23.52; 8. Kristine Lozoya, 36:31.29; 12. Shannon Harcus, 37:10.02.
100H (prelims) - 1. Lauren Williams, CS Fullerton, 13.51... 9. Kayla Carter, 14.38; 13. Ofunne Okwudiafor, 14.71; 14. Suzanne Howard, 14.82.
400H (prelims) - 1. Ericka Nowell, UC Irvine, 60.06... 4. Suzanne Howard, 1:01.73.
Steeplechase - 1. LeAnne Fogg, Cal Poly, 10:23.85... 3. Caitlin Fitzgerald, 10:32.80; 5. Samantha Kearney, 10:50.58.
LJ - Phylicia Johnson, LBSU, 5.99 (19-08.00).
PV - 1. Tiana Webberley, CS Northridge, 4.01 (13-01.75)... 2. Lauren Radke, 3.80 (12-05.50); 4. Emily Bush, 3.65 (11-11.75).
DT - 1. Nikki James, UC Riverside, 49.55 (162-07)... 6. Chidinma Onyewuenyi, 42.71 (140-01); 14. Katelyn MacFabe, 36.24 (118-11)
JT - 1. Ashley Gatewood, UC Riverside, 48.96 (160-07).