May 24, 2003

Six Cal State San Marcos Track & Field Athletes Named All-American at NAIA Nationals

Fifteen athletes from the Cal State San Marcos track & field team competed May 22-24, 2003, in the Garmin-NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, held at the Olathe District Activity Center in Olathe, Kansas. The team was led by head coach Steve Scott, assistant coach Wes Williams, and volunteer pole vaulting coach Dan Karrer. Six members of the men’s track team were named All-American.

Women’s Results:

400 m hurdles: Abril Jimenez, junior, ran 1:09.68 in the trials for the 400 m hurdles—not fast enough to qualify for finals.

4x800 relay:  The women’s 4x800 relay team, consisting of freshman Anne Marie Byrne, senior Luci Downey, junior Katherine Niblett, and senior Camille Wilborn, finished with a time of 10:11.41 in trials on May 22. They did not qualify for finals.

10,000 m run:  Katherine Niblett, junior, placed 18th in 10,000 m run, May 22, with a time of 39:48.12.

Men’s Results:

All-Americans:

Pole vault:  Junior Jimmy Barbour placed fourth and qualified as an NAIA All-American in the pole vault with a jump of 4.65 m (15-03.00) in the finals.

High jump: Senior Donald Harris finished sixth and qualified as an All-American in the high jump with a jump of 2 m (6-06.75) in the finals.

4x800 m relay: The men’s 4x800 relay team finished in fourth with a time of 7:41.10.  Each member of the four-man team was named an All-American: sophomore Justin Lessel, freshman Richie Gray, sophomore Michael Shannon, and junior Tony Herr.

Other Men’s Results:

3,000 m steeplechase: Junior Jesse Armijo placed 10th in the finals of the men’s 3,000 m steeplechase with a time of 9:41.54.

110 m hurdles: Senior Anthony Blacksher made it to the semi-finals of the 110 m hurdles where he finished with a time of :14.64 and did not qualify for finals.

400 m hurdles: Junior Robert Velasco finished with a time of :55.03 in the first trials of the 400 m hurdles. He did not qualify for semi-finals.

Marathon: Senior Omar Zavala did not complete the men’s marathon.

Full results are available at www.naia.org.

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More information about the Cal State San Marcos track & field program is available at www.csusm.edu/athletics.