MW Outdoor Champs return to Valley

Wednesday, May 11

Clovis, CA

Fresno State

Mountain West Championships

MW Outdoor Champs return to Valley

5/10/2022 6:36:00 PM | Track & Field

T&F Notes - MW Championships

By: Josh Mitchell / Assistant Director of Strategic Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – This week, the Mountain West Track & Field Outdoor Championships return to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis. It is the fifth time in the last seven years that Fresno State will host the event. The four-day meet runs Wednesday through Saturday with multi-events taking place on first two days.

The 'Dogs enter the week owning three of the top spots in the four women's throwing events (discus – Cierra Jackson; hammer – Nadia Maffo, javelin – Rhiannon Genilla). Three other Bulldogs hold Top-3 conference marks entering the championships in Hannah Chappell (hammer), Nathan Burd (800m), Julian Sotelo (javelin), while Jackson also sits third in the shot put.

Tickets for Friday and Saturday can be purchased here. Admission is free on Wednesday and Thursday.

Fresno State Outdoor Track & Field – Meet Week #8
Event: Mountain West Track & Field Outdoor Championships
Host: Fresno State
Date: May 11-14
Location: Clovis, Calif. (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
Live Results | Schedule | Watch | T ickets

A LOOK BACK AT THE 2021 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Placing fifth with 56 points, Fresno State earned its highest finish since 2017, and just its third top-half finish since joining the Mountain West for the 2013 season.

It was the first outdoor championship for the Bulldogs' current staff after their first outdoor season was canceled due to Covid-19.

RACKING UP THE WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Fresno State has earned five MW weekly awards this season, its most since joining the conference.

Cierra Jackson has earned three of them (1 AOW, 2 FOW) while Rhiannon Genilla and Nadia Maffo have each garnered a Field Athlete of the Week award.

IN THE RANKINGS
In this week's USTFCCA regional rankings, Fresno State checked in at No. 13 in the West, second among Mountain West programs behind San Diego State (9).

In the conference rankings, the Bulldogs come in at No. 6, 22.22 points behind Nevada and 140.37 points ahead of Boise State in the rating index.
Fresno State is No. 62 in the national rankings. The Bulldogs' big move came a week earlier with a 52-spot jump.

JUST A FRESHMAN
Starting her collegiate discus career with a throw of 45.04m, Cierra Jackson has seen a meteoric rise in the event. Following a mark of 58.57m on April 30, the redshirt from increased her distance by 13.53 meters in less than two months to rank No. 4 in the NCAA.

The throw not only earned Jackson Mountain West Freshman of the Week but also Women's Field Athlete of the Week, making her the first athlete in the conference to win both Athlete of the Week and Freshman of the Week in the same week.
Two weeks before her new discus PR, Jackson registered marks that put her in the Top 3 in the conference in both the discus (52.28m/171-6) and shot put (15.81m/51-10.5). After the weekend, the Chandler, Ariz. native was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week.
Jackson enters this week's championships as the only athlete in the conference to rank in the Top 3 in both events, sitting first in the discus and third in the shot put.
Jackson ranks No. 3 all-time at Fresno State in the discus and No. 4 in the shot put.
Jackson put together a strong performance at the Mountain West Indoor Championships which included a second-place finish in the weight throw and fourth in the shot put, Cierra Jackson has not let up in the spring.

STOP, HAMMER TIME
When Fresno State's hammer crew takes to the throwing ring, it's a must-see event. With its three top hammer throwers returning this season in Hannah Chappell, Amelia DiPaola and Tahj'nee Thurston, Fresno State's group got even stronger this year with the addition of Florida State transfer Nadia Maffo. The Bulldogs' current group owns four of the program's Top 8 all-time marks in the event, including Maffo who owns the program record.

Fresno State is one of three schools in the in the West Region, along with Arizona State and Southern Illinois, with three hammer throwers who own marks over 60 meters this year.
Fresno State ranks No. 4 in the NCAA in the event squad rankings with an average top throw of 62.22m/204-2.
Fresno State's throwers are No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 in the Mountain West standings.

ONE YEAR, ONE RECORD
For the first time in her career, Nadia Maffo eclipsed the 65-meter mark at the West Coast Relays. The senior's best throw of 65.32m/214-4 put her atop the Mountain West in the event and second all-time at Fresno State. Less than a month later, Maffo went deeper and broke the program's record at the Fresno State Invitational with a mark of 66.56m/218-4.

Fresno State's hammer record had stood since 2009.
Maffo's throw ranks third in Mountain West history.
Following the West Coast Relays, Maffo was named MW Women's Field Athlete of the Week on April 5. Along with her top throw of 65.32m, Maffo landed marks of 65.01m/213-3 and 64.55m/211-9. All three attempts surpassed her previous PR of 64.53m/211-8 which she set in 2019.

FIRST APPEARANCE, FIRST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Following her first appearance for the Bulldogs, Modesto JC transfer Rhiannon Genilla earned her first Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week honor. At the time of her personal best mark of 48.20m/158-2 at the Kim Duyst Invitational, she ranked No. 1 in the NCAA.

Through four weeks she is 49th in the NCAA, 28th in the West and leads the Mountain West.
It was the Bulldogs' second Athlete of the Week honor in the last two seasons. Prior to 2021, Fresno State had not had one since 2016.

ALL AROUND ENTERTAINMENT
Waiting nearly a month and a half to compete in her first heptathlon, Madison Hutton did not disappoint. With a PR in six of seven events, the Surrey, England product scored 5,191 points at the Bryan Clay Invitational, fifth best in program history.

Hutton entered the spring after posting the program's No. 2 point total in the pentathlon (3,771) at February's Mountain West Indoor Championships.

FRESHMAN HOPPER
Short of the 12-meter mark early in the season in the triple jump, Rachela Pace broke through at the West Coast Relays with an event-winning jump of the 12.36m/40-6.75. The freshman from Malta followed that at the Beach Invitational with a mark of 12.44m/40-9.75.

Pace leads the Bulldogs' group and ranks fourth in the Mountain West.
The freshman moved into the Fresno State record book where sits seventh all-time.

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