Hornet track and field loses in causeway showdown

Senior+Stephanie+Blumm+hurdles+against+UC+Davis+in+the+Causeway+Classic+Dual+Meet+at+Hornet+Stadium%2C+Friday%2C+April+29.

Senior Stephanie Blumm hurdles against UC Davis in the Causeway Classic Dual Meet at Hornet Stadium, Friday, April 29.

Connor Ashford

The Sacramento State track and field team lost on Friday afternoon to UC Davis in the 11th annual Causeway Classic Dual Meet, with both men’s and women’s teams falling to the Aggies.

The women’s teams were competing in a tight matchup throughout the day in the event at Hornet Stadium. The Hornet women racked up eight wins on the day, while the Aggie women collected 10 of their own. The loss in the meet is the fourth straight for Sac State, and it’s the second time in three years that both the men’s and women’s teams were swept.

The women’s field group saw Hornets win five out of eight events, with two even setting career bests. Junior thrower Tyhana Cooper took the win in the hammer event, improving her personal record by over three feet. Another thrower, freshman Jelaia Jones, secured the victory from the shot put event, moving into the top 10 in school history.

With additional wins in the pole vault, javelin and long jump, the women’s team was in good shape heading into the stadium for the racing events. But losses in five of the distance races set the Hornets back. Senior middle distance runner Chloe Berlioux finished first for Sac State in the 1500 meter, but all the other races were lost to the Aggies.

Senior hurdler Stephanie Blumm secured two big wins for the Hornets before the final team relays. She finished in first in both the 100-meter hurdle and the 400-meter hurdle.

But the Aggie women won the final relays. The 4×100 saw Sac State lose by .16 seconds. The seesaw battle between the two teams went all the way into the final event, the 4×400. For the Hornets, a win in this relay would have stopped the Aggies from finishing the sweep, but after falling behind in the first leg of the race, the women’s track and field squad finished 7 seconds behind, sealing the loss for Sac State by a final of 97-95.

The men, meanwhile, had a much harder time in the matchup. The Hornets were able to pick up six wins, but came up short compared to the Aggies’ nine wins en route to winning the men’s title for Davis.

The field group kicked the Causeway Classic off, starting strong and getting several first place finishes in events such as the discus and hammer by senior James Kinloch. Sac State also got wins from senior Richard Casas’ win in the shot put and junior Trevor Hubby’s win in the javelin throw.

The racing events did not go as well. There was some success, such as senior sprinter and hurdler Paul Lyons finishing first in the 110-hurdles. Three other Hornet athletes followed him up and finished second through fourth in a sweep of that event.

The men’s team also won the 100-meter dash, with sophomore Jelani Brice-Moore coming in first with a time of 10:52. That mark is one of the fastest run by a Hornet in the last seven years.

Those events were all the first place wins for the men, though, as UC Davis took the wins in both the long and triple jumps, along with most of the distance races. Sac State runners did finish within a second of first place in the 200, the 400 and the 800, but lost by 5 seconds in the 1500 and by 6 seconds in the 3K. They lost by a final of 105-87.

The meet represented the last home event and tune-up opportunity before the Sac State Open and Big Sky Championships. The track and field team meets up for the final time at home next Saturday for the Sac State Open.