Meet Notes: Cal State Los Angeles’ Jesse Owens Track will be the venue for all events except for the men’s and women’s hammer, which will be held at Occidental College.
Flash Results West will handle the official timing and measuring duties. Complete results will be posted on three different web sites – Cal State L.A.’s athletic web site at www.csulaathletics.com, the conference web site at www.goccaa.org and Flash Results at www.flashresults.com.
Meet scoring will be consistent with NCAA rules, with 10 points for first place the highest total. The entire scoring option (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1) will be used for individual and relay events. The top three finishers in individual events at the CCAA Championships shall receive framed event-specific certificates. Members of the first place relay teams at the CCAA Championships shall receive framed event-specific certificates. Also, the Most Valuable Athlete, Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year shall be selected by ballot immediately following the CCAA Championships.
Lumberjack Notes: Brian Valle and Pat Fox open the meet for HSU with their first decathlon events on Thursday. Shortly after, the Jacks’ Helena Silva begins heptathlon competition.
Two Lumberjacks – Nick Bawden and Thomas Wilhelm – lead the CCAA in their respective events, and will be the favored competitors. Bawden tops the league in the javelin and Wilhelm has the best mark in the discus.
Jesus Solis will be considered one of the favorites in the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, an event in which he holds the fourth-fastest time in league this year. Teammate Jasper Peach has the second best in that event, but will instead focus on the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races.
Michael Okenwa should battle for the title in the men’s triple jump, where he possesses the third-best leap this spring.
In the women’s events, Audrey Oswald and Kelsey Lemke are the prohibitive favorites to take an individual title, Oswald in the hammer and Lemke in the javelin. Ranking No. 2 behind Oswald in the hammer is teammate Beth Krieger.
Sophomore Megan Rolland has the CCAA’s third-best time in the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, and she will focus on that event at the league meet. “Megan has a chance to improve her time and hold a faster qualifier for nationals,” HSU head coach Sandy Moran said. “She’ll put all of her energy into that one event, and go for the win.”
As a team, the Jacks plan to improve on last year’s eighth place women’s finish and sixth place men’s rank. Balance over several events should help achieve that goal, particularly in the men’s competition. “Going into the meet, on paper we’re seeded fourth for men and sixth for women,” Moran said. “Our goals would be to reach that seed or higher. Individually, I’d like to see 80 to 90 percent of our team achieve personal or seasonal bests, and finish higher than their seed in a particular event.”