NAMPA, Idaho – Redshirt senior Tricia Cervantes opened up the 2017 Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday by taking on the pentathlon for CSU Bakersfield.

“Tricia earned her fifth All-Conference honors by placing fifth overall with a new indoor best for the Roadrunners,” said Marcia Mansur-Wentworth, Director of Track and Field at CSUB. “She competed tough today.”

A native of Beaumont, Calif., Cervantes opened the pentathlon with a ninth-place finish in the 60m hurdles. Her time of 9.32 was a season-best. Cervantes went on to a personal best in the high jump. The redshirt senior placed fourth in the event with a mark of 5-02.25, which moved her up to 17th all-time in CSUB history.

Cervantes then moved to the shot put and earned her best finish of the day. Her best throw of 33-06.00 was good enough for second overall. With two events remaining, Cervantes placed eighth in the long jump with a mark of 16-02.25. Wrapping up the pentathlon, Cervantes placed fourth overall in the 800m race, finishing in a time of 2:30.69.

For her efforts on Thursday, Bakersfield's captain earned a total of 3,323 points. Cervantes' total was almost 100 points better than her results at the 2016 WAC Indoor Championships and is the best indoor mark all-time for CSUB. With the fifth-place finish, Cervantes earned Second Team All-Conference honors.

Bakersfield will return to the track and field in Nampa, Idaho on Friday to continue the 2017 WAC Indoor Championships. The field events will kick off the day while track prelims will occur later in the afternoon.

~GoRunners.com~