If not for untimely injuries, Sac State?s track and field team might have beaten Fresno State for the first time since joining the Division I field. Instead, the Bulldogs continued its mastery of Sac State, claiming both men?s and women?s competitions in Saturday?s four-way USTCA Series Meet at Hornet Stadium.

Still missing in action for the Hornets are distance harriers Melissa Madeson and Annette Corey, both out with tendonitis.

Sac State?s women?s team finished second with 198 points to Fresno State?s 232. Cal State Fullerton followed with 146, as Portland State rounded out the field with 67. The Hornets? men?s squad was third (147) behind the Bulldogs (239) and Cal State Fullerton (181).

“This is the closest to Fresno State that we?ve ever gotten,” Hornet coach Joe Neff said. “If we had a few of our athletes (healthy), our women?s team could have won. And with the men, we could have been a lot closer to Fullerton, even Fresno State.”

Leading the charge for the Hornets? women were seniors Joni David and Karen Trapini, along with freshman Shanita Bryant. In two of the past three meets, they have occupied the top three spots in the long jump, leaving their marks in the Sac State record books in the process.

Bryant was a half-inch shy of the school record, topping the competition with a 20-foot, half-inch jump. Trapini leaped a 19-08 3/4 for second place and is now third on Sac State?s all-time list. David, who prior to this season had never competed in the event, became the program?s fifth-best jumper after hitting a 19-01 3/4 Saturday for third place.

“Having two (teammates) that are great jumpers there to push me has been real helpful,” David said. “It?s quite intimidating for other schools now that we have developed a nice little core of jumpers.”

David won the 100-meter dash in 12.20 seconds while Bryant finished one position behind in 12.40. Bryant was the first to cross the finish line in the 200 (24.38), but David did not compete because of a sore back.

David and Bryant teamed up with Stephanie Byrd and Myesha Kirtman in the 4×100 relay, where they took first and clocked in at 45.97, the fourth fastest time in Sac State history.

Kirtman was the Hornets? only Big Sky Conference qualifier of the meet, as she blazed past the league standard in the 100 with a 25.07 for third place. Kirtman and her teammate Renee Warner finished side-by-side in first place in the 100-meter high hurdles at 14.53. Senior pole vaulter Tracy Dahl nearly broker her own school record, vaulting an 11-10 for the first. Her personal and program record of 12-00 1/2 was set earlier this month in the Bruce Drummond Invitational. Sandra Butler, meanwhile, took second in the high jump with a 5-02 mark. Madeson and Corey?s absence has hurt, but Tina Limon and others have picked up the slack for the injured Hornets. Limon won the 1,500 (4:39) and 5,000 (18:04.60), Ann Koscki took second in the 5,000 (18:27.50), Chrissy Clark took second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:59.39), Jennifer Burkhalter took second in the 400 (55.80), and Heather Clark finished third in the 800 (2:19.56). Monica Crawford led the Hornet throwers with a third place finish in the hammer throw (150-05). The men?s competiton ended with a little drama in the 4×400 relay. Sac State?s “A” team trailed Fresno State during the race?s first three legs. But the Hornets took the lead after freshman Shawn Hooper received the baton from Keenan Smith. Hooper didn?t hesitate to take the lead and increased it. But he tripped in the final 100-meter curve, consequently disqualifying his team from finishing.”I feel real bad, I feel like I let my teammates down,” Hooper said. “They worked hard to put us in a position to win but I fell.” Hooper?s performance in the 400 intermediate hurdles more than made up for his miscue, however. He took second with a time of 53.53, beating his personal record by exactly a second.”I?ve been having problems with stutter stepping, so once I work on that and get my steps down, I should break 53 (seconds) easily,” Hooper said.Jonathan Davis, racing with a sore hamstring, and Lloyd Jackson were the top two finishers in the 100 with times of 10.67 and 10.82, respectively. Jacob Mills triumphed in the steeplechase (9:25.56) as did Rokeem Osby in the high jump at 6-4 1/2. Charles Amey placed second in the 110 high hurdles, clocking in at 15.41.Tim McGallian was the Hornets? top thrower, earning second and third-place finishes in the hammer throw (156-10) and the shot put (45-03 1/2). Sac State will have another shot at Fresno State this weekend, as the two schools will duke it out against Air Force in a tri-meet. But regaining health and improving marks will be the focus of the meet, Neff said, not winning it. “We?re entering the part of the season where … there?s not a great emphasis on points,” he said.