Chico State Athletics

Kelly McConnell has had plenty of good memories and top performances at University Stadium. He made sure his final home meet would be more of the same.
 
The senior from Los Altos won the 400-meter hurdles at the Chico State Distance Carnival and Twilight Invitational in a personal-record 52.34 seconds for an NCAA Provisional mark that also moved him up to fourth in the event in program history. The NCAA Provisional threshold is 53.55, which McConnell surpassed by more than a second.
 
He then ran the second leg of the victorious 4x400-meter relay as he teamed with Hasani Barrett, Bryan Montes, and Domo Mosley for a time of 3:16.78 that closed the meet with the Wildcats winning a fifth event overall and more than doubling the second-place team's point total (209.16 to 104.33).
 
Entering Saturday, McConnell had been sixth on the Wildcats' all-time list for the 400 hurdles with a 52.75 he ran at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships at University Stadium last May. He pulled the same feat at the conference championships as he did Saturday, running a leg of the winning 4x400 relay to put a thrilling finish to a home meet to the delight of the Wildcats and their fans.
 
McConnell and the Chico State squad return to action with the Woody Wilson Classic on Friday and Saturday in Davis with some athletes competing at the Stanislaus Multi meet on Thursday and Friday in Turlock.