The Cal Poly Pomona track and field team breezed through the competition at the Beach Opener, hosted by Cal State Long Beach March 6-7 at the Jack Rose Track.
On the first day of the Beach Opener, the Broncos competed in the hammer throw and javelin events.
Sophomore thrower Aaron May competed both days in the hammer throw event. May placed first on Thursday and also hit a personal record with a throw of 46.09 meters.
After his success on the first day of competition, May still seeked improvement on the second day.
“Coming into today as day two, after yesterday (Friday), I hit a decent PR (personal record) that I wasn’t totally happy with but I’ll take my little victories,” May said. “There’s always room for improvement which was the mentality coming into today.”
With an outstanding start to the first day of the Beach Opener, a number of the Broncos placed within first through third place in their events on the second day.
“We had a really solid day of performances,” head coach Chris Bradford said. “The work we are putting in is really starting to show, but we have a lot of work ahead of us. We’re not where we want to be yet. We talked about stepping up to the competition (before this meet).”
Sophomore Ryan Fields took control of the track and placed first in the 400-meter hurdles event crossing the line at 52.82 seconds. His teammate, junior Kaelin Moore, trailed right behind him at second place at 52.01 seconds. Both Fields and Moore hit National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II provisional marks in the 400-meter hurdles event.
Fields’ success didn’t stop there as he was the third leg of the 4×400-meter relay that had everyone in the stands on their feet cheering as all four Broncos came together to beat the host team, Long Beach State.
The 4×400 relay team of sophomores Nicholas Guajardo, Kyle Johnston, Fields and Moore have been unstoppable this season. Moore anchored the race and strode past his competition with a breeze crossing the finish line at 3:14.56 minutes.
Senior Alejandro Ambrosio placed second in the 1500-meter run, leading the distance runners also as one of the top competitors at the Beach Opener for the Broncos.
Freshman Anthony Victa placed third in the triple jump event with a superb jump of 14.69 meters, hitting another NCAA Division II provisional mark to add onto the Broncos’ success.
Freshman Kailen Smith jumped over the high jump bar at 1.91 meters, landing him in third place against his competitors.
Sophomore pole vaulter Matteo Madrassi has been very successful in pole vault, but came a little shy at this meet and placed third with a vault of 4.98 meters. Madrassi still hit a NCAA Division II provisional mark to add onto the provisional marks at Long Beach for the Broncos.
With much success on the men’s side, the women’s team was not to be overlooked.
Sophomore Ana Tovi has been a top competitor for the shot put, and this weekend was no different. Tovi placed third in the shot put event with a throw of 13.77 meters.
The women’s 4×100- meter relay team of juniors Zaria Francis and Ryanne Napoleon, freshman Analexis Glaude and sophomore Ayana Fields placed third in the relay race crossing the line at 47.48 seconds.
National indoor track and field qualifier Fields ran her first outdoor meet of the year at Long Beach.
Fields hit a NCAA Division II provisional mark for the 200-meter race with a time of 24 seconds finishing in third place.
“I felt really proud of myself because it was my first outdoor (meet) since I’ve been doing indoor for quite a while,” Fields said. “I was very happy about my performance. I (achieved a personal record) in the 200-(meter race). I wish I hit 23 (seconds) but it is what it is.”
Fields heads to Alabama this weekend as she will compete at the NCAA indoor meet on March 13-14 in the 200-meter and 400-meter races.
The Broncos will head to the Ben Brown Invitational in Fullerton on March 13-14 and the Occidental Spring Break Classic on March 14 in Eagle Rock.
