CSUN Men Finish Sixth and Women Take Seventh at MPSF Championships

Sunday, March 1

Reno, Nev.

California State University at Northridge

MPSF Indoor Championships

Photo by: NAU Athletics

CSUN Men Finish Sixth and Women Take Seventh at MPSF Championships

3/2/2026 2:04:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field

RENO, Nev.---The CSUN Track & Field teams completed competition at the 2026 MPSF Championships on Monday at Reno-Sparks Convention Center. The Matador men would finish sixth in the team standings while the CSUN women moved up to seventh place to wrap up the meet.

CSUN's men's team would be represented three times on the podium on Monday including Elijah Ignacio who was a runner up in the shot put while the 4x400m relay team took second place as well. The Matador women had two reach the podium, highlighted by Emily Hutchinson finishing as runner up in the shot put.

MEN'S PERFORMANCES
The CSUN 4x400m relay team of Gabe Martinez, Tibyasa Matovu, Jayden Smith and Walter Pierce set a new school indoor record with a time of 3:10.09. The team nearly came from behind in the final moments of the race, ultimately finishing in second place to Cal State Fullerton, but claiming eight team points for CSUN.

In the shot put, Ignacio improved upon a fifth-place showing at last year's MPSF Championships to take second place on Monday. His fifth toss of 16.51m (54-2) captured eight team points. Tui Edwin scored as well in the event, taking fifth place with a PR of 16.08m (52-9.25) while Francisco Isiordia posted two points with a seventh-place finish and a mark of 15.32m (50-3.25).

Also reaching the podium, Pierce was third in the 400m with his time of 47.21 to pick up six team points. Matovu, the reigning 400m champion, finished fourth with a time of 47.49 for five team points. Martinez finished 10th overall at 48.18 while Smith was 14th at 48.71 and Terence Williams was 15th at 50.66.

Caleb Harrell earned three team points in the 60m finals, running at 6.94, as he moved up from his seventh-place finish in the prelims on Sunday.

Raul Verges also earned a team point for CSUN, taking eighth place overall in the 800m with a PR of 1:54.69. Adam Divinity took 11th place at 1:55.66 and Ja'Patrick Smith finished 12th with a PR of 1:55.86.

In other distance races, Ja'Patrick Smith was 10th overall in the one mile run with his time of 4:25.36. Finally, Elijah Stenberg set a PR with a time of 8:39.63 in the 3000m to finish 15th followed by Thomas Achten in 18th place with a PR time of 8:45.67 and Cesar Cuevas in 22nd place with a time of 8:48.40.

Cal State Fullerton came away with the team title on the men's side at 191 points. Long Beach State was second at 170 points while the rest of the leaderboard included UC Riverside in third (73 points), Washington State in fourth (72 points), Portland in fifth (60 points), CSUN in sixth (56 points) and Pacific in seventh (15 points).

WOMEN'S PERFORMANCES
A day after finishing second in the shot put, Hutchinson notched another runner-up finish in the shot put as earned eight team points with a mark of 14.93m (48-11.75). Amani Britton was 11th in the event, throwing at 13.20m (43-3.75) while Katherine Shipp-Davis was right behind in 12th place at 12.82m (42-0.75).

Simone Smith also reached the podium, claiming third place in the triple jump with a mark of 12.31m (40-4.75) for six team points. Smith's mark set a PR while it ranked fourth-best in school indoor history. Camryn Harris also scored, capturing five team points with a fourth-place finish and a mark of 12.19m (40-0). Harris' mark also reached the school's all-time top-10 indoor list in eighth place.

In sprints, Hannah Bridge took sixth place in the 60m finals with a time of 7.64 to pick up three team points. The CSUN 4x400m relay team also earned three team points for the Matadors, as the group of Trystin Mitchell, Brianna Wells, Makyla Jones and Jayden Lopes were sixth with a time of 3:46.39.

In the 400m, Serena Grace paced the Matadors with an 11th-place finish with her time of 56.45. Wells took 18th in the event by running at 57.39 while Mitchell was 19th at 57.40, Jones was 27th at 59.41 and Lopes was 28th at 59.50.

Finally, in the 3000m, Lilit Arakelyan set a PR of 10:16.70 to take 18th place. Other competitors in the race included Ami Jacobson who set a PR of 10:26.52 and Brianna Torres who also recorded a PR with a time of 10:37.70. Savannah Ganter rounded out the runners as she was 34th at 10:52.28.

UC Irvine took home the team title with 132.50 points while Hawai'i was second at 87 points, Cal State Fullerton was third at 81 points, Oregon State was fourth at 72.75 points, Washington State was fifth at 61 points and Long Beach State was sixth at 57 points. CSUN's 43.50 points were seventh followed by UC Davis (34.25 points), San Francisco (32 points), UC Riverside (32 points), Portland (12 points), Pepperdine (eight points), St. Mary's (eight points) and Pacific (one point).

ACCORDING TO COACH JUSTIN JOHNSON
"Overall, we competed very well this weekend. We came up a bit short in some events but that's the nature of a conference championship. I was proud of how the team responded in tough moments and we were able to post several top eight finishes as well as post top-10 marks in school history.

"As we conclude the indoor season, we are looking forward to the outdoor season. We have a lot to be proud of but there are improvements that need to be made if we want to have a chance to reach our goals during the outdoor season."

UP NEXT
The CSUN Track & Field teams will now focus their attention to the 2026 outdoor schedule with their first meet set for March 6-7 at the Beach Opener, hosted by Long Beach State.

#GoMatadors