Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
WAC Outdoor Championships
Men Take Fourth, Women Fifth At WAC Outdoor Championships
5/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
May 15, 2004
HOUSTON- Host Rice captured both the men's and women's titles on Saturday afternoon at the 2004 WAC Outdoor Championships in Houston, Texas. Two middle-of-the-pack finishes were recorded by Fresno State: the men's team took fourth with 122 points while the women's squad placed fifth with 68.Fresno State's two event winners came during Friday's competition, when junior Russell Weaver (Clovis, Calif.) captured gold yet again in the pole vault while senior Kara June (Santa Maria, Calif.) established a new WAC-meet record in the steeplechase. The Bulldogs did not capture any individual titles on Saturday, but instead added two more athletes to its NCAA Regional qualifier roster.
Junior Chris Berrian (Atwater, Calif.) ran a personal-best 21.08 in the prelims of the 200-meter run to garner an NCAA Regional berth, while freshman Ryan Moore (Visalia, Calif.) did the same with a career-best 52.16 in the 400-meter hurdles to finish second overall.
Berrian added another personal-best in the 400-meter run, clocking in at 47.74 to take third. Junior Sean Marzolf (Lodi, Calif.) was fifth in the 800-meter run with a season-best 1:51.15. Those efforts, along with four Bulldog athletes holding down the 2-3-6-7 spots in the decathlon, helped keep Fresno State in contention and finish one point behind third place Boise State and 25 behind runner-up UTEP.
In the field events portion of the meet, senior Joe Vasquez (Selma, Calif.) was unable to lock up a first-place finish but managed to take fourth in the discus at 173-7 (52.82m) and establish a personal-best in the javelin at 196-8 (59.94m). Senior Trevor Chatterton (Concord, Calif.) took fourth in the long jump with a personal-best and team-high 23-4 (7.11m).
The women's squad checked in fifth overall with 68 points. Rice edged Louisiana Tech 161.5-155 for the crown, with Nevada (128.5) and Boise State (91) taking third and fourth, respectively. June's performance in the steeplechase proved to be the highlight for the 'Dogs.
During Saturday's competition, sophomore La'Sha Hill (Oakland, Calif.) established a personal-best 148-1 (45.15m) in the hammer but was 10th overall. Freshmen Mallory Webb (Dundee, Ore.) and Katie Richardson (Yreka, Calif.) were impressive; Webb took third in the javelin at 150-4 (45.82m) while Richardson was third in the discus at 159-1 (48.49). All three of these athletes have already qualified for NCAA Regional competition.
Fresno State's top event on the women's side proved to be the pole vault, where juniors Michelle Lennox (Pearl River, NY) and Annie Malaythong (Merced, Calif.) tied for second overall with personal-best marks of 12-9.50 (3.90m). Lennox and Malaythong, along with junior Lexine Lesser (Hanford, Calif.) have also qualified for NCAA Regionals. Freshman Samantha Modeste (Roseville, Calif.) tallied a career-best 12-3.50 (3.75m) to take seventh overall.
The Bulldogs take a week off before preparing for NCAA Regionals, which are slated for May 28-29 in Northridge, Calif.
Players Mentioned
