Northridge Makes Records in Big Sky Fall

The Cal State Northridge women’s track and field team continued its assault on the Big Sky Conference record book in the California-Nevada championships at California on Sunday.

Seniors Erika Bowling and Nancy James, junior Annetta Wells and sophomore Frances Santin won the 1,600-meter relay in 3:40.53 to break the record of 3:41.06 set by Boise State in 1988.

Northridge, which joined the Big Sky in the fall of 1996, holds conference records in seven of 21 women’s events.

Last season, the Matadors set the 400 relay record of 44.82 and got records when Wells ran 23.52 in the 200, Micki Rogers ran 13.50 in the 100 high hurdles and Brandi Prieto bounded 42-11 3/4 in the triple jump.

Beth Burton set a Big Sky record of 54-8 3/4 in the shotput for Northridge in 1998 and Christina Tolson threw the hammer a conference-record 196-9 that season.

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Amy Thiel of Moorpark College set a national junior college record of 179 feet in the women’s hammer throw at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays last month and has the best marks in the state at 49-6 in the shotput and and 163-1 in the discus, but she expects to throw much farther by the end of the season.

“I want to qualify for the Olympic trials in all three events,” said Thiel, a transfer from Colorado State. “That’s a big goal of mine.”

The Olympic trials qualifying standards are 52-8 3/4 in the shotput, 175-6 in the discus and 198-6 in the hammer.