San Francisco, Calif. – The SF State track and field team had a monumental weekend as the Gators took second as a team in the annual Johnny Mathis Invitational hosted by SF State at Cox Stadium.

"We had fantastic conditions, excellent competition, and a great crew of officials to make the Johnny Mathis Invite a huge success today," said interim head coach Tom Lyons.  "The team has been gearing up for our first home meet and very excited to compete where we practice everyday. The results were impressive across all disciplines with many lifetime bests, a few SF State All-Time top-10 additions, as well as two NCAA provisional marks."

Chico State placed first overall with 313.50 total team points, behind them was the Gators with 162 total team points.  In third was San Francisco with 62 points, followed by Humboldt State with 59.50, San Jose State was fifth with 35 points, Academy of Art was sixth with 18 points, followed by Santa Clara (11), Pacific (8) and Saint Mary's (6).

The Gators were led by a strong showing in the relays as well as the throws.  The Gators took three of the four throwing events, as well as the 4x100 and 4x400.

In the hammer throws on Friday afternoon, Michelle Chung took first with a throw of 48.20m (158-02"), winning the even by over 13 feet.  Alex Jones took fourth with a throw of 114.02 and Ariana Luster placed fifth with a throw of 102-11".

"Michelle (Chung) started things off with big throws winning the hammer and discus followed by Alex (Jones) taking the shot. Hilary hit 18' 4.25" in the long jump after great 4x1 and 100 races, Ashley cleared 5' 4.50" in the high jump and followed that with a mid-15's in the 100H showing her multi-event potential," said Lyons.

Chung also won the discus with a toss of 139-00, Symone Ramirez placed sixth in that even with a throw of 115-03". 

Jones took first in the shot put with a throw of 11.88m (38-11.75"), Ramirez placed fourth with a throw 10.64m (34-11") Luster, Ruth Le Beau and Ashley Black placed 15-17 with throws of 8.34m, 7.90, and 7.21m respectively.

In the 4x100m relay the Gators "A" team comprised of Janesha Anthony, Maya Cabiness, Hilary King, and Brionne Baucham took first with an impressive time of 47.03.  In third was the "B" group from SF State, made up of Marina Tucker, Erica Hayes, Jazmine Tyler, and Laura Stokes who finished with a time of 50.60.

The 4x400 relay team also took gold, finishing with an impressive time of 3:56.11 led by Cabiness strong fourth leg.  Joining her was Baucham, Black, and Guerrero.

"The relay teams won the battle with Chico State in exciting duels to open and close the meet. Janesha (Athony) dipped under 12.0 in the 100, Laura Stokes under 15.0 on the 100H, Brionne (Baucham) low-25 in the 200, and Maya's (Cabiness) 55.6 relay split were a few of the highlights," said Lyons.

In the 100m dash Anthony took first with a time of 11.94, Hilary King and Laura Stokes also finished in the top-10 with King taking fifth with a time of 12:46, while Stokes took ninth with a time of 12:96.

In the field events, Ashley Black won the high jump, clearing the bar set at 1.64m (5-4.50"), taking third was Kareezia Younger who cleared 1.54m (5-0.50"). 

Hilary King took second in the long jump with a distance of 5.59m (18-04.25"), Anthony and Hill finished sixth and seventh with jumps of 4.93m and 4.91m.

"We head to spring break feeling very good about the first half of the season. Next up is Stanford and the Distance Carnival, followed by a trip to LA, and then conference and nationals." added Lyons.

The Gators will return to action in two weeks when they travel to Stanford, Calif. to participate in the Stanford Invitational on April 4-5 at the Cobb Track at Angell Field.

Complete Results of the 2014 Johnny Mathis Invitational