Results
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Cal State East Bay junior
Marquise Cherry captured first place in the long jump on Saturday to lead the Pioneer men's track & field team at the Cal State L.A. Invitational, the first meet of the 2015 season for CSUEB.
Cherry jumped 23 feet, 11.5 inches (7.30m) in his East Bay debut, out-leaping his nearest competitor by more than five inches and hitting an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. He also posted a strong showing in the triple jump, placing sixth overall with a distance of 46 feet, 6.75 inches (14.19m). His jump is currently tied for the second-longest in the NCAA Division II this season and it's the ninth-longest in Pioneer program history.
Senior
Julian-Vincent Garcia performed well in the team's only other field event, taking third place in the javelin B section with a personal-best throw of 134 feet, five inches (40.97m).
In the sprints,
Aaron Godine ran the 100m in 11.31 to take 37th place overall. Garcia also participated in the event, clocking a time of 12.09. The Pioneers' 4x100 relay team had a nice showing to open the season, placing fifth out of 19 teams in 42.38.
"Julian had a great start to the season with a personal record, and the 4x100 relay team ran a very spirited race, pacing the field for three legs before falling to a fifth place finish," said head coach Ralph Jones. "Then Marquise took command of the long jump with a season-opening win. His mark of 7.30m puts him in a tie for No. 1 in the conference in that event, and he also placed in the triple jump."Leo Theus III ran the 400m for East Bay and posted a time of 50.55, good for 21st place overall. The 4x400 relay squad turned in a time of 3:38.16 to place 23rd in a loaded field of Division I, II, and junior college schools.
Kyle Fetter and
Orlando Ramirez both competed in the 800m to open the season, finishing with times of 2:05.48 and 2:12.10, respectively.
Finally, the Pioneers sent three runners to compete in the 1500m.
Latee Piggee paced the trio, finishing 71st overall in 4:28.30.
Zach Kanlong crossed the finish line in 4:30.45, and
Irvin Parada turned in a time of 4:38.30.
"This meet was very large and very long," Jones added. "The team showed a lot of perseverance, battling hot temperatures and long waits between races. For the first week, our team goal was to execute different aspects of competing at a meet. We wanted properly execute our warm-up, race plan, and cool down. Overall, the team was very successful in accomplishing those goals, and our athletes gained great experience, which should help them at the CCAA championship meet."
Next week, CSUEB returns to northern California to compete in the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Chico State on Saturday, Mar. 14.
"For a day that started at 8 a.m. and didn't end until 6 p.m., I must say I was very proud of our Pioneer athletes," Jones said. "They persevered, they competed, and they learned. We are starting to grow into the team we eventually want to be."
