TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1999

The Beach squads struggle at meet

By Rory Barnett

On-Line Forty-Niner

During the CSU Fullerton Titan Open last Thursday, the Long Beach State track and field team members struggled, but managed to walk away with a couple of strong performances.

In the men's 200-meters, Kashus Perona finished first with 21.55 seconds, almost a full ten seconds in front of unattached participant David Schapiro. In the third heat, Earl Smith finished third with 22.12, Tyrone Pearson finished fourth with 22.21, and Brian Carson came in fifth with 22.82 seconds.

But the fifth fastest time in the world this year was recorded in the first heat by Julian Golding from Great Britain.

Fred Becerra finished fifth in the 1,500-meters with a time of

4-minutes,12.32 seconds. In the pole vault, NCAA champion Borya Celentano finished fourth with a mark of 15 feet.

On the women's side, Marisha Bedford finished fifth with 25.26

seconds against tough competition. Joice Maduaka of Great Britain finished first with 23.59 seconds.

The women's 4 x 100-meter relay team finished third with 49.03, one second in front of the CSUF relay team. In the women's shot put, Tammy Raphael tied for first with Amanda Martinez from UC Riverside both with a mark of 36 feet, 2.75 inches. Raphael also finished fifth in the discus throw with 98 feet, 7 inches. In the high jump, Kelsea Halverson finished second with 5 feet, 1 inch, and Stacey Harker tied for third with her teammate Erin Hiemstra, both recording a mark of 4 feet, 11 inches.