Track and Field Ready for Big West Championships

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The track and field postseason begins Friday with the Big West Track & Field Championships at Jack Rose Track in Long Beach, Calif. Competition begins at 10:30 a.m. with the men’s hammer throw final. Track events will start at 1:00 p.m. with the women’s 3,000m steeplechase final. 

Day two of action starts at 10:00 a.m. with the women’s javelin final. On the track the first event will be the women’s 4x100m relay final that will take place at 2:00 p.m.

The Roadrunners had 13 individuals qualify for the championship meet in their respective events. Seven women and six men. “We are sending a strong team to this year’s championship as we continue to make progress in this highly competitive conference”, said Director of Track and Field/Cross Country, Marcia Mansur-Wentworth. Nine out of the 13 qualified are newcomers. 

Collectively, Bakersfield enters this weekend with seven top-ten conference times and measures – four women and three men. 

Freshman Makiah Parker leads the Roadrunners with the highest conference rankings. Parker is ranked second in the 100m and fourth in the 200m. She can become the first CSUB freshman to win a conference title in the Division I era.

Other freshmen who are making an impact for CSUB are Emilia Mandela and Skye Odom. Mandela will compete in the 100mH and Odom is set for the triple Jump. Both women are top ten in the conference for their events. 

Junior college transfers Ivy Miller (400mH) and Grace Padron (hammer throw) will compete in their first conference meet. 

Jaztyn Greer is returning the championship meet and will compete in the 400mH. 

Bakersfield native, Jacob Yagers is ranked fifth in the men’s 1,500m with his time of 3:42.51. This season, he has broken the previous record twice and looks to be in contention for a conference title. 

In the men’s hammer throw, Javier Toro holds the fifth-best mark in the conference. His mark of 64.88/212’10” puts him at 27th in the region. The senior is on his way to qualify for his second straight NCAA West Preliminary meet. Teammate Thomas Richardson continues to peak at the perfect time. Just last week, Richardson threw the seventh-best mark in the conference in the HT—his new PB of 62.31m/204’5″ puts him sixth all-time in program history and ranks him 45th in the West Region. The two will also compete in the shot put where they also rank in the top ten for the conference. Freshman Tyler Balgeman will join his teammates in the hammer throw. 

Jaden Cutliff will toe the line in the 400mH, he ranks thirteenth in the conference. 

Hartnell College transfer, Ethan Lavina, will compete in the triple jump where he holds the #19 spot on the CSUB all-time list. 

The conference weekend is also the final opportunity to add or improve national qualifying marks. The top 48-ranked athletes in each of their events advance to the West Preliminary Meet (May 28-21) in College Station, Texas.