BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The Cal State Bakersfield Track and Field program will open their 2023 season at Long Beach State's Beach Opener on Friday and Saturday, Mar. 3-4. Live results will be available throughout the meet.
The first event at Jack Rose Track will be the men's hammer throw and the women's javelin at 10:00a.m. Saturday will be the start of track events, first with the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase at 10:00a.m. Other schools competing are UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Army, USC, Loyola Marymount, and Azusa Pacific.
Thomas Richardson will open the season with the men's hammer throw; Richardson placed fifth at the 2022 Big West Track & Field Championships with a personal best of 58.20m. He currently is ranked #20 all-time in the CSUB record book. Javier Toro, Matthew Garrett, and Axel Salazar will join Richardson in the event.
Jessi Solis, Madison King, and Kayla Prince will compete in the women's hammer throw. Solis is #9 in program history in the event with a throw of 49.32m.
The final event on Friday will be the men's javelin. Evan Vigrass is the lone Roadrunner competing in the event; Vigrass is ranked #12 all-time for the javelin.
Day two of competitions for the `Runners will begin with field events at 10a.m.
Miranda Miller has continued her momentum following a successful 2022 outdoor season. Miller broke her own indoor pole vault record at the Lumberjack Team Challenge in January with a height of 4.15m. During last year's outdoor season, she broke the CSUB program record, Big West record, and the championship meet record. Her achievement earned her the Big West Field Athlete of the Year. Miller's personal best of 4.30m ranked her sixth overall in the NCAA West. Last year at the Beach Opener, she broke the meet record in the event.
Kassidy Neptune will join Miller in the pole vault. Neptune finished the championship meet in eighth place and is #5 all-time in program history for the event.
Richardson, Toro, and Garrett will compete in the shot put. Richardson is #12 all-time in program history for the shot put and finished fourth overall at the conference championship meet a year ago.
Jesus Alvarez and Noah Wright will be set for the men's high jump. Two weeks ago, the pair finished 1-2 at the Sunbird Invitational. Alvarez has a personal best of 2.03m, which ranks him #12 all-time in program history.
Riley Slayton highlights Bakersfield in the running events. The 2022 Big West silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles and #2 all-time in the event is set to compete in both the 400-meter hurdles and the 100-meter hurdles. Teammates Julia Stein and Jaztyn Greer will join Slayton in the events. Both women are also in the top ten all-time list in the 400m hurdles.
Full entry list for the Beach Opener is provided.
Quotes from Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Marcia Mansur-Wentworth
- "Matthew Garrett showed great progress in 2022."
- "Miranda Miller has picked up where she left off after two second place finishes and one first place indoors in 2023 and breaking her own indoor record."
- "Jessi Solis has improved dramatically indoors in the weight throw."
- "The women's team will line up a strong group of hurdlers led by Riley Slayton."
Weekend Schedule
- Beach Opener
- Friday and Saturday, Mar. 3 & 4
- Long Beach, Calif.
- Links to the schedule of events and live stats available at GoRunners.com/Live
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~GoRunners.com~
