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12 Bulldogs Earn All-Mountain West Honors in Track and Field
STEVEN WEBSITE PHOTO 1
By Steven Sanchez
Published 1 year ago on
May 16, 2024

Left to right: senior Iyanna Ross, senior Ceonna Pipion, and junior Cierra Jackson are among Fresno State's 12 All-Mountain West performers in track and field. (GV Wire Composite)

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Following Fresno State’s best finish at the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championship in Clovis at Buchanan stadium, 12 Bulldogs were named All-Mountain West on Wednesday afternoon.

The honor team is made up of the top three finishers in each individual event and the top three relay teams at the Mountain West Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Overall, the women’s team placed third in the conference championships and received seven medals. The men’s team finished with 25 points.

The 12 that were chosen matched the most for the program since joining the conference. The 11 women set a new program high for the team, beating out the 2016 team, which had 11.

Individual Achievements and Records

Junior Cierra Jackson, senior Ceonna Pipion, and senior Iyanna Ross earned a team-high three honors apiece.

Jackson claimed two silver medals (discus, hammer) and a bronze (shot put), becoming the first Bulldog in MW history to medal in three individual events at a single conference championship. The junior also became the fifth female athlete in the conference to earn a medal in three throwing events, and the first to do it since 2015.

Pipion and Ross earned their individual medals in the 400 meters as they went 2-3. Pipion reset her program record in the event at 52.22 while Ross jumped to No. 3 with a time of 53.14.

The two were a part of both the 4×100 relay, which placed third and set the school record (44.96), and the 4×400 relay which set the No. 2 time in Fresno State history (3:35.39) and finished second. Senior Chole Sharp joined them on both relays. Junior Antoinette Stubbfield was the fourth member of the 4×100 while junior Miana Giovannini was the fourth on the 4×400.

More Medals and Personal Bests

Senior Kaja Bins earned her first silver medal of her career in the heptathlon. Her 5,238 points are the fifth-most in program history. She came off a bronze medal in the pentathlon indoors.

Senior Amelia DiPaola captured the second bronze medal of her career in the hammer (2022, 2024). It was the sixth competition in her career that she had thrown over 61 meters.

Missing out on a medal in 2023 after placing fourth in the javelin, sophomore Harriette Mortlock moved up to second this year. She jumped to No. 9 on the program’s all-time list at 164-3.

After earning two bronze medals indoors, junior Rachela Pace took silver in the triple jump outdoors. She matched her program record in the event with a jump of 43-6.

Elizabeth Tarczy takes 1st in the Women’s High Jump at the 2023-2024 Mountain West Track and Field Championships (Facebook/Fresno State Athletics)

Young Talent Shines

The Bulldogs’ lone gold medalist this year was one of its youngest athletes, Liz Tarczy. She became the first Bulldog to win the high jump at a conference meet since 1990. She is the first freshman to win the high jump at a MW outdoor championship since 2009.

On the men’s side, freshman Kyle Hughes became the first Bulldog to medal at a MW outdoor championship since 2019, doing so by taking third in the triple jump with a personal best 49-8.5. He became the first Bulldog on the men’s side to medal in the event since 2013.

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