The Sacramento State Hornets defeated the UC Davis Aggies during the Track and Field Causeway Classic, held on a rainy Friday night in Hornet Stadium.

The meet ended prematurely when Davis forfeited the final event of the evening: the men’s 4×400 meter relay.

Going into the event, the men’s score was tied 94-94 with the winner of the event taking the whole meet. However, the weather conditions grew worse before the 4×400 relays began and the Aggies chose not to field either the men’s or women’s teams for the final event.

Sac State sophomore distance runner Renisha Robinson said: “It felt good; the point was to win. But we could have done better; we could have run faster if it hadn’t been for the conditions of the rain.”

Despite the weather conditions, director of Track and Field Kathleen Raske said that all the runners performed well and withstood the rain.

“This was the worst weather that any of the kids have ever ran in, but they ran through it and their attitudes were awesome,” Raske said. “This experience was a great for the team going into the Big Sky Conference championships since there’s a chance that there could be snow or sleet in Montana.”

The Hornets wrapped up the event with a score of 103.5-81.5.

Standout performances started early with sophomore Taylor Weldon winning both the hammer throw and the discus with scores of 157-10 and 143-30 respectively. In the women’s throws, the Hornets dominated the shot put when they swept the top three spots. Senior Nicole McClure, who finished second in that event, also posted the top score in the hammer throw with a 164-60.

The Hornets also offered standout performances in the men’s horizontal jumps. Sophomore Ronald Brookins took the top spot in the long jump with a 23-02.75, followed by teammate freshman Philip Burks who posted a 23-03.50. Burks also placed first in the triple jump with a score of 44-10.25 and second place was claimed by Hornet senior David Houghton with a score of 41-11.50.

On the track, junior Erica Violett placed first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.72, winning by just a tenth of a second, and she also won the women’s long jump by scoring an 18-09.25. Sophomore Victoria Humphrey also recorded two 1st-place finishes with a 12.48 in the 100 and a 24.99 in the 200. On the men’s side, junior Jason Nelson placed first in two events as well. He ran an 11.28 in the 100 and a 21.8 in the 200.

Other 1st-place finishes came from Renisha Robinson in the women’s 800 who ran a 2:10.39. Nicole Jackson won the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.77. Kristina Holtz took the steeplechase with a time of 10:34.10 and Morinsola Keshinro had a 5-00.25 in the women’s high jump. Natalia Wright won the women’s triple jump by posting a 37-06.75. Nick Mills won the men’s javelin throw with a distance of 199-06.

Following the event, Brookins said: “The rain made it difficult, but I’m glad that we won and that we won the Causeway. The fact that they are our neighbors means we have to see them at every meet we’re at. People talk about our schools a lot but we have the better athletic program and we try to prove it every year.”

The Hornets are now preparing for the Big Sky Championships and NCAA championships and Raske said that the team has been training all year for the championships.

“We’re trying to advance many runners onto the final rounds of the NCAA champions as possible and have some All-Americans in our sport,” Raske said.

One of the biggest areas of improvement that the team needs is for everyone to perform at the same level and Raske said that every should run up to their full potential.

“We can’t have one runner doing okay, another runner performing to the best of their ability and another runner not stepping it up.”

The Hornets will close out the season May 9 at the Sacramento State Open at Hornet Stadium before moving onto the Big Sky Championships May 13-16 at Montana.

“This team has been a great group and they have gone through a tough season have to juggle the tournaments with final exams, but they are all pulling through,” Raske said.

Andrew McFadden can be reached at [email protected]