Report by LBSU

The Long Beach State track and field team continued its strong showing at the Asics/Steve Scott Invitational, adding four more first-place finishes Sunday afternoon at Anteater Stadium.

Matt Maldonado won the 1500-meter run as he clocked in with the second-fastest mark in school history. He finished the race in a lifetime-best 3:44.28.

Alex Freitas also claimed the 800m title in a season-best 1:49.84, while Jonathan Evans finished third overall at 1:53.42.

Sam Jeter took runner-up honors in the 400m hurdles (51.44) and Nimrod Piggee placed fifth in the 110m hurdles (14.41). Spencer Phillips added a Big West qualifying mark of 15.30 in the short hurdle race, which was good enough for eighth place.

Richard Crawford registered a lifetime-best 21.89 and Louis Ward had a season-low 22.10 for top 25 finishes in the 200m dash.

In the field events, Alex Black took second in the high jump (6-08.75), while Cesar Puga led the 49er throwers with a third-place performance inthe discus (173-11). Puga was also LBSU’s top finisher in the shot put as he tied for seventh with a distance of 50-00.50.

On the women’s side, Rachel Hammar won the shot put at 42-02, while claiming second in the discus (148-03).

Sara Macey also took top honors in the high jump with a lifetime-best 5-07.

Denise Nunez registered a personal-record 2:14.77 in the 800m as she placed eighth overall. Jennifer Rodriguez (4:34.37) and Missy Barclay (4:35.90) also had top five finishes in the 1500m.

Kristen Kiefer led five 49ers in the 100m hurdles, taking seventh in a season-best 14.66 seconds.

Long Beach State returns to action next weekend as it opens the Big West Championships with the multi-events, May 7-8.