Albuquerque, N.M. – San José State track and field got its season started off on the right foot over the weekend at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegiate Invitational as the Spartans saw success across all four principles to start the 2020 campaign in style.
Four indoor school records were set by the team on Saturday, led by SJSU's best showing through sophomore Jasmine Pharms in the throws. Pharms placed second in the shot put, throwing against a stacked field that saw representatives from Texas, USC and LSU round out the top four. The sophomore hit a mark of 14.71m with her first throw that would ultimately be enough to finish in second.
"We have a young team and the majority of them had never been on an indoor track before," said head coach Kendra Reimer-Gonzales after the meet. "I am really proud of how they showed up and competed against some of the top teams in the nation. This was a great start to our season."
It was indeed a great start for Diamond Tabron, Dariya Greene, Lonsha Bradford, Sydney Bentley and Deborah Cornish, making up San José State's 4x400 team that placed fourth and set an SJSU indoor record with a time of 3:48.66. The success would continue for the Spartans over in the jumps where freshman Mahkaia Lee, competing in her first collegiate meet, finished in fourth with a mark of 12.31m in the triple jump.
Lastly, it was the distance squad that capped a strong day for SJSU.
The men's side was highlighted by senior Jose Piña, running in his first track event since last May's NCAA Preliminary Championships. Piña placed sixth in the 1 mile run, clocking in with a time of 4:20.62. The mark was less than seven seconds back of New Mexico's first-place finisher Kristian Hansen, running on his home track at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
The women also saw success in their 1 mile run as San José State's Jeanette Zambrano and Jennifer Sandoval finished five-six. Zambrano posted a time of 5:07.39 with Sandoval cruising in right behind her teammate at 5:07.41.
The marks were a welcome sight for Reimer-Gonzales, who wanted her team to get comfortable with a venue they will see a lot of in February.
"We now have two weeks to make some adjustments before we return to Albuquerque," Reimer-Gonzales said. "Our goal is to get comfortable with the facility and be ready for the conference championships next month."
SJSU will return to action on Feb. 13-14 at the New Mexico Don Kirby Elite Invitational. That will be the team's last tune-up before the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championship, which runs Feb. 27-29 in Albuquerque.
Top-10 Finishes
Jasmine Pharms - W Shot Put - 14.71m - 2nd Place*
Diamond Tabron, Dariya Greene, Lonsha Bradford, Sydney Bentley and Deborah Cornish - W 4x400m Relay - 3:48.66 - 4th Place*
Mahkaia Lee - W Triple Jump - 12.31m - 4th Place
Semanu Attiogbe - M Triple Jump - 14.29m - 4th Place*
James Burbank - M Triple Jump - 14.10m - 5th Place
Jeanette Zambrano - W 1 Mile - 5:07.39 - 5th Place
Cecil Ebiwok, Aidan Jardon, Mikael Tyler, Charles Price, Jamar Simpson and Jalen Adams - M 4x400m Relay - 3:20.11 - 5th Place*
Jennifer Sandoval - W 1 Mile - 5:07.41 - 6th Place
Jose Piña - M 1 Mile - 4:20.62 - 6th Place
Juliette Noyer - W 800m - 2:19.05 - 9th Place
* - Indoor School Record