CHICO — The Cal State Stanislaus men's track & field team challenged the traditional stronger teams and finished fourth at the 2009 California Collegiate Athletic Association Track & Field Championships, which concluded on Saturday at Chico State.
Kasey Burlingham took home a CCAA championship in the men's pole vault while teammate
Andrew County finished third (14-10 1/4).
As a team, the Warriors finished fourth with 115 points. Chico State won the team championship with 257 points, followed by UC San Diego and Cal Poly Pomona.
Burlingham has been one of the top ranked pole vaulters in the country and has been the CCAA's top athlete in the event all season long. He did not disappoint as he cleared 16 feet, four inches for the win. Cal State L.A.'s Josh Linker was second (15-10).
Joey Nunes had two solid performances in distance events, including an All-CCAA second place performance in the 5000-meter run. He clocked 14:59.35 in the 5K, finishing just behind Chico State's Beau Rogers (14:57.48). Nunes also finished fifth in the 1500-meter run (4:00.06).
In the 3000-meter steeplechase,
Martin Ramos was fifth in 9:33.15.
The day after finished third in the long jump, Luther Bell placed second in the triple jump with a 45-7 3/4.
Valentin Alberto was fourth in the shot put (45-4 1/4) to also highlight the Warriors in the field events.
In the 400-meter run,
Terry Gross finished third in 49.37 seconds. He had the top time in his heat in Friday's preliminaries.
Jerome Johnson clocked 50.87 to finish fifth in the 400.
Burlingham is the second Cal State Stanislaus student-athlete to win an event in the CCAA Championships. On Friday, Guat Vallejo-Howard won the hammer throw to become the second Warriors in as many years to win the win. Last season, Ricky Gurrola was a champion in the hammer.
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