Returning from its first meet, three Hornets were able to qualify for the Big Sky Conference Championships. The Hornets traveled to the University of Nevada, Reno and participated in the Wolf Pack Invitational on Saturday.

Senior Karen Trapani, junior Charles Amey and sophomore Jonathan Davis were the three Hornets who met the conference qualifying mark.

Trapani earned her qualifying mark by finishing seventh in the triple jump, with a distance of 37 feet, three inches. Davis qualified by finishing fourth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.48 seconds. Amey, the other Hornet who qualified, finished in seventh place in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.79 seconds.

“It was a pretty good opener. It was particularly important for the young athletes,” head coach Joe Neff said. “Next week in Moscow, Idaho, we will have a ton more players qualify.”

Teams that took part in the Invitational were Oregon, Stanford, Washington State, Cal, UC Davis and Nevada.

Neff stated that this invitational was for the younger players, whom he was anxious to see in action.

“We were looking to give some of the kids experience this week,” Neff said.

The event took place on a 200-meter track instead of the normal 400-meter track, and was made of wood rather than rubber.

“This was tough for some of the kids who have never seen this before,” Neff said.

Despite the track, Neff still thought that the meet was successful.

“It was great. We have others who are pretty close to qualifying,” Neff said.

Three other Hornets were able to finish in the top 10. Sophomores Howard Story and Stephen Gaitan finished in the seventh and eighth place respectively, in the 800-meter. Story had a time of 2:00.52, and Gaitan a time of 2:01.45. Freshman Shanita Bryant finished in ninth place in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.34 seconds.

Sac State will travel to Moscow, Idaho, on Feb. 9 and 10 and participate in the McDonalds Scoring Invitational.

During this event, Neff looks forward to seeing other Hornets meet the qualifying mark while catching a glimpse of their conference opponents.