Members of the SF State women’s track and field team had stellar, all-around performances at the 24th annual Johnny Mathis Invitational on April 2 at Cox Stadium.

The non-team scoring, all-day event witnessed Antonia Diamond, Kavina Hall and Najma Nuriddin win their respective events.

Diamond finished first in the triple jump, leaping 10.76 meters. She also placed third in the long jump, leaping 4.95 meters and eleventh in the 100-meter dash.

“It was my first time running the 100 meters,” Diamond said. “And I like the triple (jump) because I came in first.”

Diamond, a junior and kinesiology major, battled back spasms for most of the day. She walked around noticeably gingerly and seemed to grimace in discomfort after each triple and long jump attempt.

Hall finished first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.35 seconds. The freshman placed second in the 200-meter dash running 25.17 seconds, and she was also a member of both the second-place finishing 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

“I think I’m doing pretty good considering the competition out here,” Hall said after her run in the 400-meter dash. “I think my 400 was better. I’m getting better each week.”

Hall ran a 57.74 and finished fifth in the 400-meter dash at the Stanford Invitational on March 25. She said unlike Stanford, she ran the Johnny Mathis Invitational against the wind and competed against older, more experienced competitors.

Nuriddin finished first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.34 seconds. Along with Hall, Nuriddin was a member of the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay teams.

With their 47.19 time, the 4x100 team of Nuriddin, Whitney Owens, Hall and Aziza Bledsoe provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

“We’re only a half second away from the school record,” said track and field head coach Charles Schneekloth of his 4x100 relay team. “I thought our team, as a whole, did really well.”

Alongside Diamond, freshman Christina Young competed in the triple jump, long jump and 100-meter dash. Young finished third in the triple jump, leaping 10.31 meters, sixth in the long jump, leaping 4.79 meters, and thirteenth in the 100-meter dash.

“I jumped two and a half feet shorter than I usually jump,” Young said. “Some days, you have good days and some days you have bad days. Today wasn’t my day.”

In the high jump, SF State’s Ashley Hamlett finished third with a 1.52-meter jump, Kristen Para tied for fourth with a 1.47-meter jump and Christina White tied for sixth with a 1.42-meter jump. Para, a freshman, also placed 14th in the 100-meter dash with a 13.80 time.

Bledsoe blazed the track with a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.57 seconds. The senior placed fifth in both the javelin throw with a 21.27-meter heave and the long jump with a 4.85-meter jump.

“I think our sprinters are running well,” Schneekloth said. “We have two of the best triple jumpers in the conference and some of the best high jumpers. I’m very happy about the progress we’re making.”

The Gators’ distance runners were led by juniors Christine Perez and Karin Hansen. Perez ran a smart, well-paced race in the 3,000-meter run to come in third with a time of 10:59.94. Hansen finished 21st in the deep field of the 1,500-meter run with a time of 5:01.92. Both Perez and Hansen are members of the school’s cross country team.

“We have a month until conference championships,” Schneekloth said. “At this point, we’re mentally preparing for it. The more we can mentally prepare, the better we can do.”

Due to the termination of the men’s track and field team last year, SF State’s male participants were forced to compete as unattached competitors or under the Gator Track Club affiliation.

As a member of the Gator Track Club, senior Chikara Omine won the mixed 10,000-meter run, and Lenouris Jones finished third in the 400 meters and fourth in the 200 meters.

The event was named after the former track and field (high jump) and basketball star in 1982. Mathis was a student at SF State from 1954-1957, inducted into the SF State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984, and named Alumnus of the Year in 1997. But he dropped his athletic aspirations for what turned out to be a very successful career in the music industry.