CLOVIS, Calif. – After three days of competition, the Fresno State women's track & field placed third at the 2024 Mountain West Outdoor Championships on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium. It matched the team's highest finish at the conference meet.
Colorado State claimed the team title with 165 points. San Diego State was second with 152. The Bulldogs' 139 points were 43 more than their previous high of 96 which was set in 2016 when they also finished third.
The Bulldogs hauled in seven medals on the final day. Liz Tarczy grabbed the team's lone gold, becoming the first freshman in the MW to win the high jump since 2009. Cierra Jackson earned her third medal of the week, capturing silver in the discus. Rachela Pace (triple jump) and Ceonna Pipion (400m) also took home silver medals. Iyanna Ross joined Pipion on the podium in the 400 taking bronze. The two were also on the podium with the relay teams as they earned bronze in the 4x100 and silver in the 4x400.
The men's team finished with 25 points, its most since 2016. Freshman Kyle Hughes captured the program's first medal since 2019, placing third in the triple jump.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Fresno State started the day picking up 11 points in the discus. Eight of those came from Jackson whose best toss registered 57.51m/188-8. Emma Harper (49.25m/161-7) and Morgan Johnson (48.99m/160-8) placed seventh and eighth.
The afternoon saw the Bulldog jumpers claim two of the team's top results of the weekend. Within minutes of one another, Tarczy and Pace finished their events. Tarczy was the lone high jumper to clear 1.76m/5-9.25, doing so on her second attempt. Competing through a foot injury, Pace matched her program record of 13.26m/43-6 in the triple jump on her fifth attempt to place second.
Also in the high jump, Kaitlynn Perez cleared 1.68m/5-6 to tie for fourth. It was the highest finish during the senior's career at the championships.
On the track, the Bulldogs' 4x100 relay team of Antoinette Stubbfield, Ceonna Pipion, Iyanna Ross and Chloe Sharp dipped under 45 seconds to place third. Already second in program history, the group broke the school record on Saturday with a time of 44.96.
An hour later, Pipion, Ross and Sharp returned to the track for the 400 meters. The group became just the fourth trio in conference history to place in the Top 5 in the event. Pipion shattered her program record, placing second with a time of 52.22. Ross took third at 53.14, lowering her personal best for the second day. Sharp dropped her PB to 54.15 to place fifth.
Pipion returned to the track 80 minutes later to compete in the 200. The senior took seventh at 23.58. She completed her day an hour later, joining Sharp, Ross and Miana Giovannini in the 4x400 relay. The group finished second with a time of 3:35.39, missing the program record by 0.05 seconds.
On the men's side, the Bulldogs scored in five events. Jamarcus Phillips recorded Fresno State's first points of the day, finishing eighth in the discus with a toss of 48.94m/160-6. Also in the field, Hughes earned the Bulldogs' best finish of the week, capturing bronze in the triple jump, registering a mark of 15.15m/49-8.5.
Returning to the finals in the 800 meters for the second time in his career, Mohamed Saleh picked up his best finish in the event at the championships, placing sixth with a personal best time of 1:50.85. Dane Koester then went 53.31 in the 400 hurdles to finish eighth.
Koesterer, Saleh, Joziah Hagedorn and Elijah Williams closed the meet by placing sixth in the 4x400 relay with a season-low 3:15.89.
WOMEN'S NOTES
Fresno State matched its highest finish at a MW Outdoor Championship, placing third, while collecting its most points at a MW championship with 139 points.
Fresno State's 139 points were the most for a third-place team at a MW Outdoor Championship since 2006.
The 139 points are the third-most for a third-place team in conference history behind San Diego State's 148 in 2001 and TCU's 144 in 2006.
The 139 points are the most for a third-place team in the current 11-team conference which began in 2014. There were only nine teams in 2006 and eight teams in 2001.
This year marked the sixth time in conference history that the third-place team had scored over 100 points.
In the 400 meters, the Bulldogs placed three athletes in the Top 5, a feat that had only happened three previously in the conference's history.
The feat last happened in 2016 by Fresno State (1-4-5). Prior to that it had occurred in 2006 by TCU (1-4-5) and 2005 by Wyoming (1-2-5).
Liz Tarczy became the first freshman to win the high jump at a MW Outdoor Championship since Utah's Langley Iverson in 2009.
Rachela Pace joined Breanna Covington (2021) as the only Bulldog triple jumpers to medal at a MW Outdoor Championship.
This year's triple jump competition was the first in MW history to see its Top 3 all jump over 13 meters.
Cierra Jackson scored a team-high 22 points.
Jackson became the first Bulldog in MW history to medal in three individual events (discus - silver, hammer - silver, shot put - bronze) at a single conference championship.
Jackson is the first female athlete in conference history to medal in three throws events since Colorado State's Kiah Hicks in 2015.
Jackson is the fifth female athlete to accomplish the feat, joining Hicks (2013, 2015) Air Force's Sara Neubauer (2010), CSU's Loree Smith (2004) and CSU's Hannah Metzler(2001).
Fresno State's 4x1 relay team broke the school record with a time of 44.96. The previous record of 45.10 had stood since 1994.
Fresno State's 4x4 relay team moved to No. 2 on Fresno State's all-time list at 3:35.39.
Ceonna Pipion reset her program record in the 400m with a time of 52.22.
Not in the program's Top 10 in the 400m, Iyanna Ross jumped to No. 3 on Saturday with a time of 53.14.
MEN'S NOTES
Fresno State scored 25 points, its most since 2016.
17 of the 25 points came from freshmen Kyle Hughes, Jabari King and Kamoni Reams.
Hughes became the first Bulldog to medal at a MW Outdoor Championship since Kevin Sundberg took second in the discus in 2019.
Hughes is the first Bulldog to medal in the triple jump since Justin Lovingood in 2013.
Hughes finished the meet with a team-high eight points (3rd - triple jump, 7th - long jump).
Dane Koesterer earned Fresno State's first points at a MW Outdoor Championship in the 400 hurdles since Kamara Biawogi finished third in 2016.
Mohamed Saleh scored in the 800 meters for the second time in his career (2022, 2024).