Matadors Conclude Indoor Season at MPSF Championship

Friday, February 24

Seattle, Wash.

All Day

California State University at Northridge

MPSF Championship

Photo by: Juan Ocampo

Matadors Conclude Indoor Season at MPSF Championship

2/28/2017 11:45:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field

Matthew Arnold Places Seventh in the Triple Jump

By: by Geoffrey Herberg

Complete Results in PDF Format

SEATTLE, Wash. - Gardenia Centanaro broke her own school record in the pole vault by clearing 4.12m (13-06.25) to earn a tie for second at the MPSF Championship. In other results, Lexis Lambert finished third and Marie Veale placed sixth in the 200m finals while Brianna Cueva produced a new personal best in the shot put. Lambert then followed that up with a seventh-place finish in the 400m as the CSUN women's team placed 11th at the meet with 19.33 points.

CSUN head coach Avery Anderson was happy to see a couple of school records fall and saw the indoor season as generating some positive energy for the Matadors.

"A couple of school records and several marks in the top 10 all time made for a really good weekend overall at the MPSF Indoor Championships," said Anderson. "We are ready to carry this positive momentum into the outdoor season. What we do from here is roll up her sleeves and continue to work toward May and the outdoor championship season."

Lambert had a solid performance for CSUN, scoring eight points at the event. She ran 23.98 in the 200m finals to place third and score six points. She then went 54.11 in the 400m for two additional points. She also placed 10th overall in the 50m dash in a time of 7.48 seconds and Lambert finished the indoor season with two new school records.

In addition to her sixth-place finish in the 200m, Veale also moved into third in the program history in the 60m dash with a time of 7.50 seconds.

The 2016 Big West champion, Centnaro took on a host of talent from the Pac-12 Conference and Big West to place in a tie for second. She cleared 4.12m in her first attempt at the bar and neither she nor two competitors could clear 4.27m.

"Gardenia breaking the school record for the second week in a row was great, but the consistency to jump at heights that rank you as one of the best in the country is most impressive," Anderson said. "It was awesome to see her tied for the title and go into a jump off with the Pac-12's best."

Cueva posted a throw of 14.83m (48-08) in her fifth attempt of the shot put to place seventh. She was the only non-Pac 12 thrower to earn points in the event. She enters the 2017 outdoor season as the reigning Big West Champion in the discus.

"Brianna placing seventh in the meet was huge. She beat out a lot of elite throwers to score among some of the nation's best in this high-caliber meet," Anderson said. "In other notes on the women's side, Rachel Naumann moved into second in the program's all-time record book with a time of 9:56.97 in the 3000m."

On the men's side, Matthew Arnold posted a seventh-place finish in the triple jump and Andre McBride posted an eighth-place finish in the 60m dash and was 13th overall in the 200m. The men's team finished 15th with three points.

Arnold recorded a mark of 14.38m (47-02.25) to earn a pair of points for CSUN in the triple jump. He also placed 15th in the long jump with a leap of 6.60m (21-08).

McBride, the 2016 200m Big West Champion, placed eighth in the 60m dash in a time of 6.87 seconds to earn a point. He also finished 13th overall in teh 200m at 21.99 seconds. McBride's time of 6.83 seconds in the 60m dash preliminaries moved him up to ninth in the program's all-time record book.

Other results saw Charlie Nettle move into seventh in program history with a time of 8:39.47 in the 3000m.

For Anderson, the indoor season brought a lot of excitement and promise for the upcoming outdoor season. Each group performed well and set the stage for even more school records to fall in the upcoming months.

"I can't say enough about the tremendous indoor season the throwers had. As individuals and an overall group they were continuously raising the bar and are primed for a great outdoor season," Anderson said. "The distance events had a notable indoor season as five all-time top 10 marks were established. The men's 800m, mile and 3000m all saw athletes crack the list, while on the women's side the mile and 3000m had new additions."

"The hurdles got additions to its all time lists on both the men's and women's side. Joshua Turner ran the sixth-best time in school indoor history in the men's 60 hurdles when he ran 8.10 at the Armory Invitational. The following weekend Courtney Robinson ran the second-fastest time in school history at the Husky Classic to win the women's hurdles at 8.45," Anderson added. "Four pole vaulters on the all-time list and a talented group of jumpers highlighted a solid indoor season for the jump group. Several young jumpers add to an experienced a group of veterans to round out a solid event area for us. The long, triple, high jump and pole vault all saw highlights during the indoor season from several key people."

Finally, Anderson turned his attention to the sprinters, participants in some of the flashiest, and shortest, events at a meet.

"From freshman all the way up to seniors, this event group saw impressive performances throughout the indoor season," Anderson concluded. "Every sprint event saw someone make their mark on the all-time list and that includes two school records in the women's 60m dash and 200m."