BROOKINS MEETS NCAA STANDARD IN TWO EVENTS AT MONDO INVITATIONAL

BROOKINS MEETS NCAA STANDARD IN TWO EVENTS AT MONDO INVITATIONAL

4/4/2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The first installment of the Sacramento State Mondo Invitational turned into the Ronald Brookins showcase, Saturday afternoon at Hornet Stadium. The Hornet sophomore met the NCAA regional qualifying standard in a pair of events and also set the best mark in the Big Sky in the process.

Brookins opened his day by running 13.92 in the 110-hurdles. That time moves him into second place in school history and easily surpasses the NCAA standard of 14.30 Brookins also separated himself from the rest of the Big Sky as his time is now .72 seconds faster than the second best mark in the league. The San Diego native finished second in the meet trailing only USA Track and Field athlete Tim Bogdanof who ran 13.73.

Later in the day, Brookins finished first in the long jump with a jump of 24-04.25. Brookins, already led the league with a previous best of 23-08.25, and becomes the first Big Sky athlete to qualify for the regionals in the event.

Following the meet, Brookins earned the award for the best male performance. The Male Track Athlete of the Meet was Cal’s Kellan Patterson who won the 100 in 10.61 and had the top collegiate finish in the 200 (21.84). The Male Field Athlete of the Meet was Patrick Kowalsky of Cal who finished first in the shot put (53-08.25) and discus (158-00). The Female Track Athlete of the Meet was Cal’s Cherrelle Garrett who also doubled in the 100 (11.69) and the 200 (24.03). Hawaii’s Amber Kaufman was the Female Field Athlete of the Meet after clearing 6-00.00 in the high jump. The Female MVP was North Dakota State’s Laura Hermanson who win the 800 (2:10.39), was second in the 1500 (4:23.74) and ran the anchor leg of the Bison’s 4x400 winning relay team.

Other notables for Sacramento State included a win in the long jump by Ericka Violett (Hometown: Shingle Springs, Previous School: Ponderosa HS. The junior jumped 19-02.75 and finished seven inches ahead of the rest of the field. Sophomore Ify Agwuenu (Hometown: Chino Hills, Calif.
Previous School: Ayala HS)won the shot put with another regional qualifying mark of 48-10.25. Agwuenu broke her own school record a week ago and is the reigning Big Sky Female Field Athlete of the Week. Monica Gomez (Hometown: San Jose, Calif.;Previous School: New Mexico State completed the event winners with a hammer throw of 170-11, which broke her personal best by over seven inches.

On the men’s side, junior Scott Grose finished first in the 1500 with a time of 3:54.01 to win the event by over a second.

Sacramento State will next compete at the Woody Wilson Classic hosted by UC Davis on April 11.

Courtesy Sacramento State