Track comes out flat

By David Felton, On-line Forty-Niner

April 21,1998

 

 

Long Beach State's track and field athletes battled some of the toughest teams the nation had to offer Saturday at the Long Beach Invitational and came up a little short.

 

The meet was held at Jack Rose Track and was the last meet of the season hosted by the 49ers.

 

"We were a little flat in this performance," 49er Coach Andy Sythe said. "We were up against very good competition."

 

Some 49er athletes reminded the competition that they were not to be taken lightly.

 

Forty-niner Lewis Young won his heat in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.72 seconds. Teammate Jermane Strickland came in third out of eight athletes in his heat with a time of 10.96 and came in second in his heat in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.34.

 

In the women's shot put, Adara Newidouski took second out of 15 with a distance of 46-2.75 feet.

Kelsea Halverson came in fourth in her 400 meter hurdles heat and improved by 1.5 seconds from her Big West Challenge meet.

 

"It was the first time I felt healthy without having my shins hurt," Halverson said. "I felt I could have jumped better."

In the pole vault, Borya Celentano came in first out of 18 with a jump of 17-1.75 feet.

 

Ehren Thompson soared in the long jump, coming in second out of 18 with a jump of 21-9.5 feet. His teammate, Milton Fields, tied for third with a jump of 21-8.75. The meet was one of three days of continuous competition.

 

"We were all a little tired with all the meets we had going on," Sythe said. "Sometimes you can almost expect to have a lack of performance."