CSUN Track Shines in Seattle and New Mexico

Friday, February 10

Seattle, Wash.

All Day

California State University at Northridge

Husky Invitational

CSUN Track Shines in Seattle and New Mexico

2/15/2017 8:30:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field

Junior Gardenia Centanaro Sets School Mark in Pole Vault

By: by Geoffrey Herberg

SEATTLE, Wash. --- The CSUN track & field men's and women's programs put together a solid weekend of performances in Seattle this past weekend as part of the 2017 Husky Classic and 2017 UW Indoor Open. Junior Gardenia Centanaro set a new school record in the pole vault by clearing 4.08m (13-04.50) on Sunday while teammate Alyana Nicolas moved up to third in the program's all-time record book in the event by clearing 3.93m (12-10.75). On the men's side, the throwers had a solid weekend as Dawaun Lucas and Clint Meyer both moved up the school's all-time list in the shot put.

"CSUN Track & Field represented the university well this weekend with solid performances in two states over three days," CSUN head coach Avery Anderson said. "Coming off of the meet in New York, I expected more people to be flat from the travel that happens during the indoor season, but our team is so focused on getting better and working toward our goals, people stepped up and performed great once again."

Women's Recap

Centanaro, the 2016 Big West Champion in the pole vault, cleared a bar that stood just under 13 feet, five inches from the ground to set a new program mark. That clearance is actually higher than what Centanaro posted to win the Big West title, which was an outdoor school record of 4.06m (13-03.75).

In the same event, Nicolas cleared 3.93m (12-10.75) to initially move into second in the school's indoor record book before Centanaro bumped her to third. Still, the mark was better than her seventh-place mark at the 2016 MPSF Indoor Championships when she cleared 3.86m (12-08).

Another standout from the weekend came from junior Courtney Robinson. She won the 60m-hurdles in a time of 8.45 seconds to move into second in the school's all-time record book. In the distance events, Rachel Naumann posted a new personal best and moved into fifth in program history with a time of 5:07.82 in the mile run. Finally, Tiarah Umu won the shot put at the UW Indoor Open with a new personal-best throw of 14.38m (47-02.25).

Kayla Pickens led the CSUN contingent in the 60m dash with a time of 7.87 seconds while Rachel Duriez ran a personal best in the 3000m.
Brianna Cueva and Elena Lopez also competed in the shot put with Umu. In the weight throw, Monique Griffiths placed second in her flight with a toss of 17.74m (58-02.50).

Two Matadors, Marie Veale and Lexis Lambert, competed in the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque this past weekend as well. Veale competed in the 60m (7.60 seconds) and 200m (24.12 seconds). She also won her section of the 400m at 56.81 seconds. Lambert won her section of the 200m in 23.89 seconds and finished second in her 400m flight in a time of 54.23 seconds. In the 60m dash, she posted a time of 7.59 seconds.

Men's Recap

On the men's side, Lucas and Meyer led a strong effort by the throws group with their performance in the shot put. Lucas set a new personal best indoors with a heave of 17.65m (57-11) to win the 2017 Husky Classic. Meyer was right on his heels at 17.16m (56-03.75) to set a new personal best and finish second. In his flight of the event, Zachary Rosales posted a throw of 17.22m (56-06) and he led the CSUN contingent in the weight throw with a heave of 16.32m (53-06.50).

In the 800m, Michael Merchan posted a new personal best with a time of 1:53.42 to move into eighth in the school's all-time record book. Charlie Nettle then posted a personal best in the 3000m in a time of 8:50.31 and barely missed cracking the progam's all-time top 10 in the event.

Finally, Joshua Turner continued his strong hurdling with a time of 8.15 seconds at the UW Open. Turner is now in a tie for fifth all-time in the 60m-hurdles with former CSUN All-American Justin Johnson.

In other men's results, Andre McBride posted the best time for the Matadors in the 60m at 6.97 seconds. Kiyoshi Johnson, Ian Harriott, Re'Quan Harley, Tyree Harriott, Tevin Limon, Johnathan Warren and Taylor Cudequest also competed in the event. In the 200m, Ian Harriott and McBride paced the Matadors with times of 22.33 and 22.39 seconds, respectively.

Cudequest was the men's top finisher in the 400m at 50.79 seconds. In the high jump, Lohnnie Tape-Jackson cleared 2.05m (6-08.75) on his third and final attempt. In the pole vault, Louis Pancotti led the group with a vault of 4.70m (15-05) while Tevin Limon cleared 4.55m (14-11). Additionally, Dennis Hicks II won his flight of the long jump with a leap of 7.29m (23-11).

"Across the board, we had an awesome weekend," Anderson added. "Our throwers brought it this weekend. Joshua Turner and Courtney Robinson continue to show what what you're going to have to contend with in our hurdle crew as they both had excellent weekends. Our distance runners ran great again and the jumpers had an outstanding weekend led by our pole vaulters. A school record in the Pole Vault and third on the all-time list in the same weekend are unbelievable. Freshman Dennis Hicks has quietly started making his presence felt amongst a strong jump corps."