Trio of First-Place Finishes Highlight CSUN's Indoor Season Opener

RENO, Nev.---CSUN Track & Field opened the 2026 indoor season at the Nevada Invitational from Jan. 16-17, posting three first-place finishes and a number of all-time Top-10 performances in the Matador record book.

CSUN boasted three wins on the men's side with Tibyasa Matovu claiming first in the 400m as well as helping CSUN's 4x400m relay team to first place. Tylor Connelly posted a personal record en route to his win in the weight throw.

MEN'S PERFORMANCES
Matovu, the defending MPSF 400m champion had a stellar weekend, claiming first place in the 400m race with a time of 46.97. In all, the Matadors boasted three top-five finishes in the event as Walter Pierce took third place at 47.83 and Gabe Martinez finished fifth at 48.19. Jayden Smith was seventh at 48.66 and newcomer Terence Williams was ninth at 49.31.

Matovu was the last leg in CSUN's 4x400m relay team that took first with a time of 3:13.11. The quartet of Martinez, Pierce, Smith and Matovu would also register the fifth-best time in school history with their effort.

In the weight throw, Connelly recorded his top throw on his fourth attempt, which went for 20.26m (66-5.75). That personal-best mark ranked third-best in school history. Behind Connelly was Isaiah Butler, who took fifth place with a throw of 16.65m (54-7.5), followed by Francisco Isiordia in ninth place with a personal-record toss of 15.52m (50-11).

Elijah Stenberg paced CSUN with a second-place finish in the 3000m where he ran at 8:42.46, good enough for a PR and the 10th-best time in school history. Behind Stenberg, Thomas Achten was sixth at 8:53.39, Cesar Cuevas was seventh at 8:55.31 and Adam Divinity was 11th at 9:09.93.

In other sprints, two Matadors qualified for the 60m final round as Daniel Harper took third place with a time of 6.78 followed by Joey Nations in sixth at 6.83. Harper was also the top Matador in the 200m, running at 21.42 to take third while Wyatt Wiggins, Jr. was sixth at 21.74.

Matthew Browner took third place in the high jump with his top mark of 2.00m (6-6.75) while he paced CSUN in the long jump with his leap of 7.01m (23-0) to take fourth. Layne Buck took fifth as well in the long jump with a PR of 6.97m (22-10.5) followed by Nations in ninth at 6.70m (21-11.75)

In the shot put, Elijah Ignacio led the way with a five-place mark of 15.88m (52-1.25). Tui Edwin cracked the top-10 as well, placing 10th at 14.64m (48-0.25) while Isiordia was 11th at 14.29m (46-10.75).

In other distance races, Divinity was fourth in the 1000m by a clocking a time of 2:42.24. Finally, Achten was eighth overall in the one mile run at 4:28.57.

WOMEN'S PERFORMANCES
Emily Hutchinson posted a pair of PR performances on the weekend. First, she took third place in the weight throw with the seventh-best toss in school history at 18.25m (59-10.5). She was also third in the shot put with the eighth-best mark in program history at 15.06m (49-5). Also competing in the weight throw, Katherine Shipp-Davis advanced to the finals and finished seventh at 16.15m (53-0). Amani Britton would also compete in the finals of the shot put, taking sixth at 13.49m (44-3.25).

In the 60m, two Matadors qualified for the finals with Serena Grace finishing fifth at 7.58 and Amaya Rice taking eighth at 7.73. Earlier in the prelims, Grace ran the 10th-best time in CSUN history at 7.54 followed by Rice at 7.63.

Other sprint events included the 400m where Jasmine Haskell was first in her heat and third overall with a time of 55.76. Grace posted a PR in the event, taking seventh place at 56.31 while Trystin Mitchell was 10th at 56.78. The quartet of Mitchell, Grace, Jayden Lopes and Haskell were third overall in the 4x400m at 3:45.89. In the 200m, Rice led the way with a seventh-place finish at 24.46 followed by Makyla Jones in 10th at 24.66.

In other field events, Naomi Sachs registered the ninth-best mark in school history in the high jump at 1.67m (5-5.75) to take fifth place overall. Chandler Smith was sixth in the long jump with her mark of 5.77m (18-11.25) while Camryn Harris just missed the cut to the finals, taking 10th place at 5.60m (18-4.25) followed by Zola Grey in 11th at 5.55m (18-2.50). Harris though qualified for the triple jump finals, finishing seventh overall at 11.87m (38-11.5) while Simone Smith took eighth at 11.79m (38-8.25).

In the distance races, Brianna Torres paced CSUN with an 11th-place finish in the 3000m with her time of 10:58.96 followed by Savannah Ganter in 14th at 11:01.17. Finally, Kahlai Cruser claimed 17th place in the 600m by running at 1:44.96.

ACCORDING TO COACH JUSTIN JOHNSON
"Good start to our indoor season. We had a few event wins, multiple personal records and a few top-10 performances. There's an energy about this team that I really like. We have a very talented and hard working group of young men and women. There's still a lot of improvements we need to make if we want to reach our goals, but we got started off on the right foot."

UP NEXT
CSUN will return to competition at the Don Kirby Invitational, hosted by the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M. The two-day meet takes place from Feb. 13-14.

#GoMatadors

Trio of First-Place Finishes Highlight CSUN's Indoor Season Opener

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Players Mentioned

Thomas Achten

Amani Britton

Matthew Browner

Layne Buck

Isaiah Butler

Tylor Connelly

Kahlai Cruser

Cesar Cuevas

Adam Divinity

Tui Edwin

Savannah Ganter

Serena Grace

Zola Grey

Daniel Harper

Camryn Harris

Jasmine Haskell

Emily Hutchinson

Elijah Ignacio

Francisco Isiordia

Makyla Jones

Jayden Lopes

Gabe Martinez

Tibyasa Matovu

Trystin Mitchell

Joey Nations

Walter Pierce

Amaya Rice

Naomi Sachs

Katherine Shipp-Davis

Chandler Smith

Jayden Smith

Simone Smith

Elijah Stenberg

Brianna Torres

Wyatt Wiggins, Jr.

Terence Williams