LOS ANGELES — The Long Beach State track and field team showed plenty of personal improvement at the USC Trojan Invitational on Saturday, as distance runner Brett Hasvold and high jumper Nicholas Armstrong highlighted the team’s day at USC with first-place finishes in their respective events.
Hasvold, a sophomore, posted a time of 8 minutes, 42.25 seconds to tally the best mark in the men’s 3,000-meter run. Armstrong led the 49er men in the high jump after setting a personal-best mark of 6-10 3/4 inches to finish in first place.
“I haven’t jumped that high ever,” Armstrong said of his jump. “That was a major [personal record] for me. I felt it shake, but I knew I hit [the jump].”
Armstrong also set a personal best in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.36 seconds.
The meet at Loker Stadium was not a scored event, but still gave many athletes a chance to break personal records.
“There’s no winning team,” LBSU head coach Andy Sythe said. “Most meets are like that now in track … it takes some pressure off the athletes.”
Distance
Not far behind Hasvold in the 3,000 meters, sophomore Raul Arcos ran an 8:54.17 to place fourth, while senior Jacob Ainsworth crossed the line in 8:56.23 to grab the fifth spot in the same event.
Senior Missy Barclay led the 49er women with a time of 10:17.23 to earn third place in the 3,000 meters.
Sprints
Senior Kenneth Medwood set a personal record in the men’s 400-meter run (48.44 seconds) to place fifth in the event. He also led The Beach in the 200 meters with a time of 21.98 seconds.
Just behind Medwood, junior Richard Crawford set a personal record in the 400 meters, clocking in at 49.14.
In the 100-meter dash, LBSU freshman Nathan Alade (11.11) and junior Nimrod Piggee (11.39) both broke their own previous best times in the event.
Hurdles
LBSU had several of its athletes set personal bests in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Junior Kristen Kiefer jumped her way to a personal best with a time of 14.96. Teammate Aiyana Welsh also broke her own record after posting a 15.50 time.
Piggee placed sixth in the men’s 110-meter hurdles and ran a personal best in the event after crossing the line with a time of 14.40.
Kiefer (64.50) and Welsh (66.84) both posted personal records in the women’s 400-meter hurdles.
Sam Jeter led the men in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.06, placing fourth in the event.
Jumps
The LBSU men took four of the top six spots in the high jump as Alex Black (6-10 3/4), Brad Zarembski (6-06 3/4) and Kevin Jenkins (6-04 3/4) all placed behind Armstrong. LBSU jumps coach Dave Rodda said he has high hopes for his athletes.
“Everything we’re trying to do is get in the top 48 of our region,” Rodda said. “That’s what we’re trying to do, but it’s really early in the year.”
Tayler O’Connor led The Beach women in the high jump, clearing a height of 5-07 to place fifth.
Battling an ankle injury, Kayla Kamaka placed eighth in the women’s pole vault after clearing a height of 11-9 3/4 inches.
Throws
Randi Hicks, who set a Big West Conference record in the javelin earlier this season, was the top thrower for the 49ers, placing third in the event with a distance of 160-07 inches.
In the men’s hammer throw, Rajan Baines (177-03), Peter Fourtounis (167-09) and Cesar Puga (164-10) took the top three spots in section B.
The 49ers return to the track when they send a split squad to the Cal-Nevada Championships (March 27-28) and Stanford Invitational (March 26-27).