Fresno State Outdoor Track & Field - Event #3
Event: Bulldog Classic
Host: Fresno State
Date: March 17-18
Time: 12 p.m. on Friday (Warmerdam Field)/10 a.m. on Saturday (Veterans Memorial Field)
Location: Fresno/Clovis, Calif.
Live Results | Schedule | Meet Program
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
When March started, half of Fresno State's outdoor season was set to be spent in Fresno and Clovis competing at Warmerdam Field and Veterans Memorial. With change to this weekend's previously scheduled meet in Sacramento, the team will host the Bulldog Classic in what will be their first of four meets this season in Fresno County.
Fresno State will host the Bulldog Classic and West Coast Relays in March. The end of April will see the Fresno State Invitational. That will lead into the Mountain West Outdoor Championships in Clovis in early May.
BREAKING INTO THE TOP 10
When the outdoor season began two weeks ago at the Kim Duyst Invite, 2022 Mountain West javelin gold medalist Rhiannon Genilla wasted little time moving into the program's Top 10. On her first attempt, the senior landed a mark of 50.47m/165-7 to move to sixth all-time at Fresno State in the event.
Genilla became just the second Bulldog woman in the last 15 years to surpass the 50-meter mark.
MAKING AN EARLY STATEMENT
At Kim Duyst, the Fresno State javelin group put their depth on display with all four throwing beyond 45 meters. Comparing to the last two Mountain West Championships, only former Bulldog Vanja Spaic had thrown farther than each of the four 'Dogs did two weeks ago.
Rhiannon Genilla is the lone returner who competed in 2022. Harriette Mortlock is a freshman while Cerah Moren is a graduate transfer from Arizona State. Chloe Wood redshirted the 2022 season after knee surgery.
BUILDING DEPTH IN THE SHOT
While throws coach Joe Riccio has quickly increased his depth in the javelin, he has managed to do the same thing in the shot put. That was shown at the Mountain West Indoor Championships when Fresno State became the third program in Mountain West history, and third since 2002, to have four athletes score in the shot put at an indoor championship.
The scorers included returners Amelia DiPaola and Cierra Jackson, along with transfers Jordyn Bryant (San Diego State) and Jocelynn Budwig (Auburn).
The group finished the indoor season ranked No. 10 in the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings with an average of 15.28m/50-1.5.
AMONG FRESNO STATE'S ELITE THROWERS
While only halfway through her sophomore season, Cierra Jackson has already shown to be one of top throwers in Fresno State's history. In one outdoor season, Jackson already ranks No. 3 in the discus (58.57m/192-2) and No. 4 in the shot put (15.81m/51-10.5). In her second indoor season, Jackson made big strides, moving to No. 3 in the weight throw (19.82m/65-0.5) while breaking the program's shot put record with a mark of 16.74m/54-11.25.
The indoor shot put record was the longest-standing indoor record at Fresno State which was held by Dot Jones since 1986.
RETURNING SCORERS IN 2023
Fresno State's women return 53 of its 73 points from the 2022 Mountain West Outdoor Championships when the Bulldogs finished fifth, their highest finish since 2016. The men return 13 of their 21 points.
The 20 points lost all come from the throws.
Cierra Jackson scored a team-high 11 points from the discus (4th) and shot put (3rd). Amelia DiPaola (hammer 3rd/shot put 6th) and Madison Hutton (heptathlon 4th/long jump 5th) each accounted for nine.
SITTING IN THE TOP 10 HEADING INTO 2023
Fresno State entered the outdoor season with 10 marks in its women's all-time event Top 10's from athletes currently on its roster. Two are on the track, three are in the jumps, one in multis and the other four are in the throws.
Amelia DiPaola (hammer, shot put), Madison Hutton (long jump, heptathlon) and Cierra Jackson (discus, shot put) own six of those 10 marks.