FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. ? The CSUB men's and women's indoor track & field teams opened the 2008 season with solid performances in numerous events at the Lumberjack Invitational Saturday, giving Head Coach Alan Collatz plenty to look forward to with his young squad.
“Overall we did excellent competing at 7000 feet and with many of our athletes competing for the first time at a college meet,” said Collatz. “The first meet sets the stage for the season and gives us an idea of where we are and what improvements we need to make to move forward.”
On the men's side, the Roadrunner throwers had a strong first meet, setting a number of personal best marks. Junior Steve Trojanowski placed fourth in the weight throw, hurling the 35-pound weight a distance of 55-08.50. Senior Brian Lopez's mark of 52-00.50 was good for sixth place while Clayton Morovich and Evan Wahl both topped 51 feet to finish eighth and ninth, respectively.
Former ?Runner standout Arnaldo Cueto won the weight throw event with a mark of 73.03.25 while another CSUB alum, Chris Figures, placed second in the shot put with a top throw of 62.03.75.
Freshman David Charleston turned in a third place, 46-03.25 mark in the triple jump while also placing sixth in the high jump (6-04.00).
“David had a solid double performance for his collegiate debut,” said Collatz. “He turned in good marks in both events.”
On the track, freshman Cameron Jost placed seventh in the 200 meter dash, finishing in a time of 22.61. In the one mile run, sophomores Edward Lee and Jose Orozco finished eighth and ninth with times of 4:43.49 and 4:54.39, respectively.
On the women's side, sophomore Sheena Cooper turned in a personal best of 7.88 in the preliminaries of the 60 meter dash. The time earned the Bakersfield native a spot in the finals, but she took a false start and was unable to complete the race. Fellow sophomore Connie King placed 11th in the 400 meter dash (1:01.83) while sophomore Bethany Lopez and senior Valerie Taylor came in fifth and sixth in the 800 meter run.
CSUB head cross country coach and assistant track coach, Maija Rohde won the 3000 meter run in a time of 10:57.39. Meanwhile, Grace McClellan and Peace Nwosu had solid performances in the high jump. McClellan placed sixth overall with a mark of 5-03.75.
The ?Runners will make the trek back to the J.L. Walkup Skydome Friday for the Northern Arizona University Team Challenge.
