CHICO, Calif. - It was a successful day for the Chico State men's track & field team at the program's annual Wildcat Invitational. A full day of Wildcats competition in front of a home crowd was highlighted by four field athletes nabbing NCAA DII provisional marks.
Kicking off the festivities, Tyler St. Laurent took home the top spot in the hammer throw on Friday with a mark of 53.62m, teammates Tad Desembrana and Chance Hefter were on his heels in second and third.
Hefter had a strong weekend finishing on top of the discus with a mark of 49.20m, but even more notably a 16.60m toss of the shot put that earned him an official NCAA DII provisional mark in the event.
Nehemiah Holiday in his third meet of his collegiate career made it a memorable one, leaping for a first-place finish in the triple jump and his first NCAA provisional mark with a 13.71m landing. Teammate Tyler Thompson came in third in the event with a provisional mark of his own after jumping to a 12.75m mark.
The Wildcats swept the top three in the long jump, Giovanni Larrea (6.75m) taking the top mark with Collin Totman (6.68m) and Tyler Thompson (6.65m) just shy of Larrea's impressive mark.
In the pole vault, Justin Craven found a personal best of a 4.86m clearance, securing his second provisional mark of the season. The senior went on to claim a new personal best in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.27, finishing third in the event finals later in the meet.
Vincent Rinaldi was the first across the line in the 100m finals with a clocked time of 10.79, Brody Staley on his heels in second with a personal best time of 10.85. The pair replicated the finish in the 200m event after Rinaldi ran a 21.54, with Staley narrowly missing out on the top spot with a time of 21.55.
Trey Suffredini claimed the win in the 400m with a time of 48.86, with Quincy Patton behind his teammate with a mark of 49.33 in his third meet with the Wildcats.
Damian Garcia put forth a strong season opener in the 800m with a first place finish time of 1:56.88. Garcia doubled his event wins on Saturday with a 1500m finish in front of the pack with a time of 3:54.60. Teammate Travis Selby crossing only three seconds behind Garcia with a time of 3:57.65.
The 5000m was all Wildcats as they sweep the top three spots, led by Brayden McLaughlin with a time of 14:55.58. Followed by Adrian Hipolito and Hunter Dougherty in second and third.
Freshman Donovan Marshall clocked a quick time of 14.82 in the 110m hurdles race, crossing the line in second place for his personal best.
Both relay teams took the gold, with the 4x100 relay team consisting of Willshawn Rusthon-Grisby, Vincent Rinaldi, Brody Staley and Cj Smith clocking a time of 41.54.
The 4x400m relay team had similar success with Brody Staley, Quincy Patton, Vincent Rinaldi and Trey Suffredini combining for a time of 3:16.87.
