`Runners Kick Off 2018 Season With Strong Meet

January 19, 2018

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Roadrunner women's indoor track and field opened the 2018 season on Friday at the Lumberjack Team Challenge hosted by Northern Arizona. CSU Bakersfield enjoyed a great start to the year with several `Runners posting strong marks in the opener.

"We had a good day," said Marcia Mansur-Wentworth, Director of Track and Field at CSUB. "Julianne won the pole vault and had a big attempt at her school record. Falon and Mariah both set personal bests in the 60. Overall, it was an encouraging day."

Julianne Finch started the season off right with a win in the pole vault, but had to fight off two other ladies in a three-way jump off for the win. All three women posted a best mark of 11-11.75, but Finch, a graduate of Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield, was able to earn the victory.

Antonia Beason, who was recruited to CSUB to be a diver but decided to join the track and field team, finished third in the high jump with a mark of 5-03.00. The freshman's height ranks 17th on CSUB's Top 20 all-time list. Beason was followed closely by two other `Runners, Hannah Walker and Susannah Vera, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with equal heights of 5-01.00.

Sophomore Falon Wilson lowered her personal best in the 60m dash from 7.81 to 7.77 on Friday. The time was good enough for 10th overall out of 49 student-athletes. Fellow sophomore Mariah LeSure eclipsed the 8-second plateau for the first time with a big PR of 7.86 to place 19th.

Wilson also posted a solid mark in the 60m hurdles (9.09) to finish seventh while freshman Hannah Walker got off to a good start on her collegiate career with a time of 9.92 in the event. To round out a busy day, Wilson, a Bakersfield native, placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 18-02.50, just six inches short of her personal best.

In her first meet in almost two years due to injuries, redshirt senior Ariana Mariscal places third in a competitive 800m race. The Bakersfield native posted a time of 2:20.86 in Flagstaff.

After taking the 2017 season off to study abroad, Alisha Byrd placed second in the triple jump. The redshirt senior posted a best jump of 36-11.50 in her return to the field.

The `Runners will return to Flagstaff, Ariz., Feb. 2-3, for NAU's Mountain T's Invitational. The meet will serve as the final tune-up before the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.

~GoRunners.com~

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