The Beavers took sixth on their own track, and had three athletes advance to the State Meet in San Mateo on May 18-19.  Three runners won their events to earn the right to compete with the best in the state.  Dan Napieralski, who has the state’s fourth-fastest time in the 1,500m, ran a 3:56.40 to win the NorCal 1,500m crown.  In the 5,000m, Gus Gibbs won with a 15:25.25 effort, and, in the same race, Aaron James advanced with a 16:05.75, good enough for eighth.  James later won the 3,000m steeplechase with a 9:38.26, off his NorCal-best mark, but well ahead of the field.

The Beavers took second in the meet held at ARC, well off the pace set by Sacramento City, but turned in some outstanding individual efforts.  Three athletes and one relay team ran to first place finishes in one event and placed second in another.  Dan Napieralski won the 1,500m with a 4:06.77 time and then took second in the 800m with a 1:56.85 run.  Gus Gibbs won the 5,000m with a 16:14.27 mark and followed on the heels of Napieralski in the 1,500 with a 4:07.22.  Aaron James clocked a personal-best 9:33.75 to win the 3,000m steeplechase and took second behind Gibbs in the 5,000m with a 16:24.30 mark.  The two relay teams matched the 1-2 finishes.  The 4x400m took first with a 3:18.75 time, and the 4x100m finished second in 42.63.  Other outstanding performances included Nelson Mwangi’s third-place finishes in the 800m (1:58.29) and the 1,500 (4:09.18), a second-place finish for Jacob Hindman in the hammer, with a 154’ 0” throw, and Deon Nolan’s 49.06 in the 400m, fast enough for second place.

David Oien, the Beavers’ lone entrant in the 10-event competition at Santa Rosa, finished eighth with 5,058 points. Oien ran to first place in two events:  he ran a 50.25 in the 400m and 4:31.70 in the 1,500m.

Competing among the top athletes in the state, two Beavers turned in outstanding performances at the 49th annual event in Walnut, CA.  Matt Lopez won three events in the meet, establishing himself as one of the top field competitors in the state.  Lopez, who has the state’s best mark in the shot put, won at Mt. SAC with a 50’ 5” effort.  In the hammer, Lopez won with “only” a 170’ 7” throw, almost eight feet off his season best, which is the third farthest throw in the state.  Lopez also won the discus with a personal-best 158’ 4” effort, ranking as the third best mark in California.  Dan Napieralski also won in impressive fashion, winning the 1,500m run in 3:54.92—the fourth fastest time this year.  Aaron James took second in the 3,000m steeplechase with a 9:41.3 time, as well as setting a personal record 15:44.51 in the 5,000m, in which he placed 10th.  Nelson Mwangi also turned in his best time of the year in the 5K (15.41.91), fast enough for 8th place.

The Beavers placed fourth in the field of the top teams in California.  ARC picked up most of its points in the field events, led by Devon Jones’s 21’ 7.75” leap in the long jump, which landed him a second-place finish.  Thomas Harder took second place in the shot put with a season-best 44’ 6” toss, and Genesis Hampton took third in the triple jump with a 44’ 9.25” performance.  The track athletes, however, make significant contributions.  Dan Napieralski ran to a third-place finish in the 1,500m run, with teammate Aaron James three slots behind in 4:13.57.  Deon Nolan ran a 50.26 in the 400m and placed third.

Competing with some strong four-year college, the Beavers had only a few high finishes in the meet at Sac State.  Dan Napieralski had the best heat of the afternoon, placing second overall in the 1,500m with a time of 3:56.22.

Kris Sulonen, David Oien, and Alex Kleefeld finished in the top five of the two-day decathlon hosted by the Beavers.  Sulonen finished second in the meet with 5,464 points by virtue of taking first or second in six of the ten events. He won the shot put with a 10.90 meter toss and the high jump, clearing 1.81 meters.  Sulonen finished second in the 100m hurdles (16.05 time), 1,500m (4:55.00), 400m (53.94), and the discus (28.12 meters).  Oien was right behind Sulonen in the overall standings with 5,329 points.  Oien tied for the best mark in the pole vault (3.7 meters) and won the 1,500m (4:42.81) and the 400m (51.54).  He also ran a personal-best 12.0 in the 100m to take second place in that event.  Kleefeld came in fifth in the competition, his best finish a tie for first with Oien in the pole vault.

Dan Napieralski led a contingent of strong performances at the meet in San Mateo.  Napieralski won the 800m (in a time of 1:55.83), the 1,500m (3:59.39), and finished second in the 5,000m (15:37.6).  Matt Lopez won the shot put with a 52’ 5.25” effort.  Four athletes turned in personal bests for the season:  Devon Jones in the 100m (11.21), Deon Nolan in the 400m (50.48), Kris Sulonen in the 110m hurdles (16.11), and Robert Davis in the pole vault (12’ 3”).

The Beavers competed in the meet open to 4- and 2-year colleges, and several individuals turned in impressive results.  The highlights of ARC’s afternoon included Dan Napieralski’s season-best 1:55.63 in the 800m run, the second fastest junior college mark and the sixth among all schools.  Aaron James clocked a 9:44.76 in the 3,000m steeple, which was the top mark among junior colleges and third overall.  Sprinter Devon Jones ran to an 11.32 in 100m, his top time of the season, and Kris Sulonen also had his best time of the year in the 400m hurdles, finishing in 1:01.99.  Matt Lopez had season best marks in the discus (157’ 3”) and the shot put (53’ 7.5”).

The Beavers won four relays at the 22nd Annual Beaver Relays held Saturday at ARC. The Beavers won the Shot Put relay with the help of state leader Matt Lopez’s throw of 52’9”; other members of the relay included Thomas Harder and Jake Hindman. ARC won the Pole Vault relay with the combined effort by David Oien, Alex Kleefeld and Robbie Davis. The 4x1600m relay, made up by Ryan Ninow, Aaron James, Gus Gibbs and Dan Napieralski, won with a 18:04.37 time  Earlier in the competition, James, Gibbs and Napieralski (1:53 split) teamed with Cale Crawford to also win the 4x800m relay.  In the Long Jump relay, Devon Jones leapt to a personal-best 22’ 0.75” effort. 

In the second rotational meet in two weeks, the host Beavers again registered an impressive win in the five-team field.  ARC totaled 212 points, 51 points ahead of second-place Hartnell.  Matt Lopez led the lopsided win by winning all three throwing events.  Lopez won the shot put with a 50’ 9” effort, the discus at 140’ 1”, and the hammer with a 178’ 4” toss, more than 30 feet ahead of the second place finisher.  David Oien was also a two-event winner, sprinting to first in the 400m (51.56 time) and followed that with a 148’ 4” throw in the javelin.  Dan Napieralski covered the 5,000m run in 15:14.75, and teammate Gus Gibbs was right behind at 15:20.17; the two times are the top two in Northern California.  Other winners included Cale Crawford in the 800m (2:04.93), Ryan Ninow in the 1,500m (4:19.90), and Aaron James with a 9:39.90 in the 3,000m steeplechase. 

february 16, 2007

NorCal Rotational

The Beavers set themselves up as a team to beat in the North as they bolted to a win in San Mateo in which the second place team was 156 points behind.  Matt Lopez led the onslaught by winning three events he dominated last sping: shot put, discus, and hammer.  Antoine Woodson (100m and 200m) and Dan Napieralski (800m, 1500m) both won two events.  Deon Nolan (400m) and Kris Sulonen (110m hurdles) also finished at the top of their events.