Men’s Water Polo: 49ers sign five for 2010
Two first-team All-Americans and one second-team All-American are among five players that have signed National Letters of Intent to play for Long Beach State.
Matt Kidwell, Dan Matulis, Devin Mefford, Nick Rascon and Rob Robinson make up head coach Gavin Arroyo’s 2010 class.
“This is the best recruiting class we have had,” Arroyo said in a press release. “All five players will bring their personal success with them this fall and join the core group of returners already in the program that we feel will help bring a national championship to Long Beach State.”
Kidwell is a 6-foot-2 attacker was named first-team All-America and earned first-team all-conference honors in all four seasons at St. Mary’s High School (Stockton). Robinson, a fellow first-team All-American, is a 6-foot-4 utility who was an All-America selection in 2008 and 2009 at Carlsbad High School.
Mefford, a 6-foot-2 attacker, was named second-team All-America and second-team All-CIF Southern Section at Ventura High School.
Matulis, a 6-foot-11 defender and Rascon was named first-team All-Ohio in 2007 and 2008. Rascon, a 6-foot-2 defender from El Toro High School, spent two years on the United States Junior National Team.
Women’s Water Polo: LBSU splits pair at Triton Invitational
Long Beach State earned a split over the weekend at the Triton Invitational, defeating host UC San Diego before falling to Maryland in the team’s final match at the tournament on Sunday.
The 49ers (2-5) pulled off their second comeback of the weekend against the host Tritons. Trailing 3-1 after the first period, The Beach scored four unanswered goals to take a 5-3 lead at the half. UCSD evened the score with two goals in the third, and a single goal from each side sent the match into overtime.
In the first overtime, Krizia Cerda put the 49ers ahead, 7-6, and another Cerda goal helped the 49ers finish off a 9-7 win over the Tritons. The 49ers fell to the Terrapins, 11-7 in the late match.
The 49ers return to action next Friday, when they host UC San Diego at the Campus Pool. That match starts at 7 p.m.
Track and Field: Men, women complete Northern Arizona University Team Challenge
The Long Beach State track and field team wrapped up the Northern Arizona University Team Challenge with the men finishing in second place and the women coming in fourth at the one-day event at J.L. Walkup Skydome on Saturday.
The 49er men finished second behind UCLA with 33 points, while the women took fourth (19 points).
Senior Alex Black won the men’s high jump with a personal-record 7-00.25. That mark stands as the third-best in indoor school history. Senior transfer Brad Zarembski made it a one-two finish for The Beach as he cleared 6-08.75.
In the triple jump, junior transfer Eric Nowell led a group of four 49ers with a second-place performance (47-08).
Senior Colin Dunbar led LBSU throwers by claiming the weight throw title and posting a runner-up finish in the shot put (55-03.75). Dunbar notched a lifetime-best 64-06 in the weight throw to put him third in school history, while his mark in the shot put ranks him fourth on the all-time charts.
Senior Kenneth Medwood took second in the 400-meter dash, running the eighth-fastest time in 49er indoor history at 48.12.
In the 60m hurdles, junior Nimrod Piggee was the 49ers’ top finisher as he claimed runner-up honors with a time of 8.18 to put him third on the school all-time charts.
On the women’s side, Long Beach State claimed the top three spots in the high jump as senior Tayler O’Connor (5-08) and sophomore Katrina Graves-Johnson (5-08) took first and second, respectively. Sophomore Janelle Coulter completed the sweep, finishing in third at 5-06 (8th in school history).
Freshman Kayla Kamaka added a third-place performance in the pole vault, clearing 11-11.75.
Senior Miia Mobley finished second in the triple jump, topping her own school record with a leap of 39-10.50.
Senior B.J. Triplett led the sprinters, taking third in the 200m (25.19) and fourth in the 60m (7.86).
The Beach returns to action next weekend with one contingent of athletes returning to Flagstaff, Ariz., for the NAU Invitational (Feb. 13), while another group will head to Seattle, Wash., for the Husky Classic (Feb. 13-14).