CSUN Quartet Opens Competition at NCAA West First Round

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—CSUN Track & Field opened up the 2025 NCAA West First Round on Wednesday with the Matador men’s team represented in five total events. Despite a number of solid performances in each event, the quartet of Matadors did not advance to the next round.

Senior Chase Mars competed in both the 100m and 200m first round competitions on Wednesday. Mars would come the closest to advancing in the 200m, as he finished with a time of 20.94 to take 24th place overall. However, by virtue of finishing outside the top three in his heat (fifth place finish), Mars was denied the chance of advancing to the quarterfinals. In the 100m first round, Mars would take 28th place overall after charting a time of 10.49. Mars’ 100m and 200m regional appearances were the second each of his Matador career. Previously, Mars won the 200m Big West title in 2024 while he competed in last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships in the event.

In the long jump, junior Joey Nations entered as the No. 37 seed in the competition and would improve to 30th place overall in the competition. His second leap of the day would be his best, which marked at 7.23m (23-8.75), but would fall short of the top 12 that advanced to nationals. Nations’ west regional debut was the first of his Matador career. His 2025 season also included his first career Big West title in the long jump. 

Sophomore Tibyasa Matovu would take 34th place overall in the 400m first round. His time of 46.79 finished fourth in his heat, just missing the cut to the quarterfinals. His regional appearance in 2025 was the first as a collegiate competitor, capping a strong first season with CSUN. Matovu would break the CSUN school 400m outdoor record this season (46.01) while he was the runner up at the Big West Outdoor Championships earlier in May.

Returning to the NCAA West First Round for a fourth time in his career, senior Trey Knight would come up short of qualifying for the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships after fouling his three attempts. Despite the outcome on Wednesday, Knight capped a historic season with CSUN in 2025, which included a second consecutive Big West hammer throw championship as well as a school record toss of 77.91m (255-7) in March. Last season, Knight claimed All-America First Team honors in the hammer throw with a sixth-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

UP NEXT

CSUN’s Summer Mosley and Jasmine Haskell will represent the Matador women’s team on Thursday at the NCAA West First Round. Mosley will compete in the hammer throw beginning at 8:00 a.m. PT while Haskell looks to move on to the quarterfinals as she participates in the 400m at 5:25 p.m. on ESPN+.

On the men’s side, Jay Louison-Roe competes for the Matadors in the triple jump on Friday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. PT.

#GoMatadors