Men’s Golf: 49ers sign top international prospect
Long Beach State men’s golf Coach Bill Poutre announced the signing of Chien Yao (Alan) Hung of Taipei, Taiwan.
Hung is listed by Golfweek’s Sagarin rankings as the No. 1 international recruit and the No. 7-overall recruit for the 2010 class. He is ranked at No. 14 in the Junior World Ranking and No. 55 in the World Amateur Player of the Year standings.
Hung will join a group next year that includes sophomore Kevin Roy, who is 10th on the school’s all-time scoring average list and his classmate Kevin Lim, the 2009 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, will return with three years of eligibility following his redshirt year.
This year’s freshman class is ranked No. 25 on Golfstat’s freshman impact ranking, led by leading Big West Freshman of the Year candidate Benjamin Lein, who headlines a class that included three of the top 10 recruits from the state of California in 2009 including Raymond Ho and Philip Chian.
Track and Field: The Beach finishes meets in San Diego and Iowa
Triton Invitational Day One Results
The Long Beach State track and field team sent split squads to the UC San Diego Triton Invitational and Drake Relays over the weekend.
Nathan Alade paced the 49er men in San Diego with a pair of top 10 finishes as he took fourth in the 100-meter dash (10.83) and sixth in the 200 meters (22.08). Both times were season bests, while his mark in the 100 meters was a Big West qualifier.
Alex Freitas registered a season-low 1:50.34 to earn runner-up honors in the 800m. Matt Maldonado wasn’t far behind in third with a personal-record 1:51.95. Mark Thomas also bettered his top 800m time by just over four seconds as he finished the race in 1:53.88.
Brett Hasvold added a fourth-place showing in the 1500m (3:56.92).
Over in the field events, Alex Black led a quartet of high jumpers, finishing third with a height of 6-07.
Katrina Graves-Johnson led the Long Beach State women as she tied for second in the high jump, clearing a lifetime-best 5-08.
Rachel Hammar also had a personal record and Big West qualifying mark in the shot put with a toss of 43-07.25, which was good enough for 10th.
Jessica Barnard had a fourth-place showing in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line in 2:14.02. Missy Barclay was right on her heels as she finished fifth with a lifetime-best 2:14.21.
Veronica Franco registered a lifetime best in her 3,000-meter steeplechase season debut as she placed fourth in 11:43.04.
Cheryl Smith and Kayla Kamaka both tied for fourth in the pole vault, clearing 11-01.75 in Friday action. Brandon Dawes led the 49ers in the men’s pole vault as he tied for fourth with a height of 14-02.50.
Drake Relays
Sam Jeter and Kenneth Medwood represented the 49er men in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
Jeter led the way, placing sixth overall with a time of 51.65. Medwood, the reigning Big West Male Track Athlete of the Week, finished 21st in 53.33 seconds. Medwood was coming off a school-record breaking performance in the 400 hurdles (50.37) at the Beach Invitational last weekend.
Senior Alex Shaw and junior Randi Hicks both posted top five finishes in the women’s javelin on the 49ers’ first day of competition on Friday.
Shaw, who entered the week ranked 11th in the nation, finished third overall with a distance of 151-02.
Hicks finished in fourth place as she had a toss of 142-07. Hicks, who set a school record earlier in the year, currently ranks first in the Big West and seventh in the nation.
The Beach returns to action when it makes the short trip to Irvine for the UCI/Steve Scott Invitational on Saturday.
Men’s Volleyball: Bittner, Aguillard named to MPSF Third Team
Dean Bittner and Antwain Aguillard were named to the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Third Team in a vote of the league’s coaches, while Dan Alexander earned honorable mention honors.
Bittner earned All-MPSF honors for the third consecutive season after leading the 49ers in kills and kills per game as a senior. He was a first-team All-MPSF pick as a junior and a second-team selection as a sophomore.
Bittner finished this season with 502 kills (4.61 per game) and earned national player of the week accolades on Jan. 25, his 49er record-tying fourth national player of the week honor.
The opposite finished his career second all-time in kills at LBSU with 1,872, as well as most matches with 20+ kills (40).
Aguillard earned third-team accolades in his first season at The Beach. The junior led the team in blocks (108), blocks per game (tied with Alexander with 1.04), while finishing second in kills (251) and third in kills per game (2.51).
Alexander grabbed MPSF postseason honors for the third straight season after being named first-team All-MPSF as a sophomore and third-team All-MPSF as a junior. The senior tied Aguillard for the team lead in blocks per game (1.04), while also leading the team in service aces (42).
He completed his career as the school’s all-time leader in hitting percentage (.468), while also ranking third in block assists (452) and first in matches with 10+ blocks (7).
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for comments made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for comments made on this Web site. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech.