SAN FRANCISCO – The Chico State women's track & field team excelled Saturday at the San Francisco State-hosted Johnny Mathis Invitational, taking top team honors and thrilling the crowd at Cox Stadium with several outstanding individual efforts. Kasey Barnett enjoyed yet another memorable meet, winning two events, finishing second in two others and setting a new Chico State record in the pole vault.
The Wildcats ran away with the women's team title, piling up 313.5 points to easily outdistance second place San Francisco State, which finished with 162 points.
Barnett's winning height of 13-feet-01 in the pole vault not only bettered her existing NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark in the event, it broke Christa Tebb's 12-year-old Chico State record by a quarter of an inch. Barnett also took top honors Saturday in the long jump, bettering her Provisional mark with a leap of 19-feet-03.25. She finished second in the 100-meter dash with a personal best time (and sixth fastest ever by a Wildcat) of 12.06 seconds, and teamed with Amilia Santos, Aja Erskine and Ashley Jones to finish second in the 4x100-meter relay (47.41 seconds).
Distance runners Ayla Granados and Olivia Watt also posted NCAA Provisional Qualifying marks Saturday while crashing the Chico State all-time top 10 in the 1,500-meter run. Granados finished second with a personal best time of 4:28.61 – the second-fastest time ever by a Wildcat. Watt came in fourth with the third-best time in Chico State history, clocking in with a PR time of 4:28.90.
Watt was a winner in the 800-meter run, clocking in at 2:14.42. Wildcat teammate Bailey Henshaw finished third in the event with a time of 2:14.96.
Tori Mason had an impressive day for the 'Cats, winning two Johnny Mathis Invitational events. Mason notched season best times and first place finishes in both the 100-meter hurdles (14.87 seconds) and 400-meter hurdles (1:04.63), and combined with Erskine, Kym Crosby and Karlie Castro-Kahn to place second in the 4x400-meter relay (4:01.33).
Other first place finishers for the Wildcats at the Johnny Mathis Invitational included:
- Ashley Jones in the 200-meter dash (season-best time of 24.97 seconds)
- Aja Erskine in the 400-meter dash (56.77 seconds)
- Sara Mikesell in the 5,000-meter run (17:41.56)
- Aryana Mires in the triple jump (35-feet-06)
FINAL RESULTS - Johnny Mathis Invitational
The Wildcat women's track & field team returns home next Saturday, competing in the Chico State Four-Year Invitational at University Stadium.
