Junior Morgan Bogard posted an NCAA Provision mark in the weight throw last Saturday at the 2008 Husky Classic in Seattle. Bogard’s throw of 62-3 (18.97) was good for second place in the competition at the Dempsey Indoor facility.
The Husky Classic was the final meet for the CSUN track and field teams before heading back to Seattle for the MPSF Indoor Championships on Feb. 29 and Mar. 1.
Head coach Don Stramatz said he plans to take about 24 men and 24 women to the championship meet, which will be the last chance for CSUN athletes to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
“We don’t plan to send anyone to the last chance meet after the championships,” Stramatz said. “This should be their final week to qualify.”
Reindell Cole is the lone automatic qualifier on the CSUN team. Cole’s long jump of 26-4.50 (8.04) is the NCAA’s best this season and set a Northridge record.
Bogard is now the third Matador to post a provisional qualifier, joining Justin Johnson and Desirae Gonder. Johnson posted a career-best 5,536 points in the heptathlon at the University of Washington Invitation and Gonder jumped a personal-best height of 5-11.50 (1.82) in the high jump at the same meet.
After Cole and Johnson showed a strong season start, the men’s team was ranked 24th in the nation. The team fell out of the rankings last week, however.
“We fell out because we didn’t get anyone else qualified,” Stramatz said. “But as soon as we do, we’ll be right back up there.”
Stramatz said he expects to see more athletes qualify at the MPSF Championships, where the focus will not be trying to win the meet.
“We’re going up against Pac10 schools in one of the premiere conferences in the nation,” Stramatz said. “It will be an extremely difficult meet for us to win, so we won’t overextend our athletes. Our focus is to qualify as many athletes as possible for the indoor nationals and to win the outdoor conference championship.”
The Husky Classic produced several season-bests for the women, including senior Bobbie Patton’s eighth place finish in the shot put with a season-best 47-6.25 (14.48). Sophomore Sherrina Lofton finished fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 56.48 and placed ninth in the 60-meter dash with her career-best time of 7.60.
Other finishers for the women included Tatiana Crochet, who set a career-best in the weight throw with a distance of 51-6.25 (15.70) to place 16th. Krystal Quinn matched her career-best in the pole vault with a height of 12-2 (3.71) for a 27th place finish. Jocelyn Do placed 31st with her vault of 11-6.50.Ashleigh McGrew ran a season-best time of 8.74 in the 60-meter hurdles and Dominique Calvin also set a season-best with a time of 7.92 in the 60-meter dash.
For the men, Terry Ross finished fifth in the 60-mete hurdles with a time of 8.11. DaShalle Andrews jumped a season-best 24-0.25 (7.32) in the long jump, placing seventh. Alex Butler finished seventh in the shot put with a new career-best distance of 52-9.25 (16.08). Teammate Chris Fuller placed 12th with his throw of 51-1 (15.57). Cody Pearce placed 11th in the weight throw with a distance of 59-0.75 (18.00). In the pole vault, Joshua Schroder cleared a season-best height of 15-1.50 (4.61) to finish 19th.
