Men’s basketball projected to finish first in Big West Conference
According to 13 members of the Big West’s media panel, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team will repeat as conference champions in 2013.
The 49ers received 13 of 21 first place votes and finished with 194 points, 30 more than second-place Cal State Fullerton. UC Irvine, Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara round out the top five.
LBSU senior James Ennis was also one of six players named to the preseason all-conference team. The ‘Niners will hold their season opener on Nov. 10 against North Alabama at the Walter Pyramid.
Women picked to end up in fifth
On the women’s side, the 49ers received one first place vote and 116 points to finish fifth in the Big West preseason media poll.
Cal State Northridge narrowly beat out Pacific for the top spot, as the Matadors received six first place votes and edged the Tigers by two points overall. Finishing in third and fourth were UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly, respectively.
Last year, the ‘Niners were projected to finish dead last in the Big West. They exceeded expectations, however, and advanced to the conference championship game.
LBSU will begin its season on Nov. 9 when it faces Sacramento State at home.
LBSU cross-country teams finish fifth in Big West Championships
The 49ers’ top runners earned personal bests, but their efforts didn’t provide enough to lift LBSU any higher than fifth in the Big West championships.
Senior Alisia Barajas ran the women’s 6,000-meter race in 20:39.8 to finish tenth in the women’s individual competition. Cal Poly’s Laura Hollander took home the top prize with a time of 19:12.6 and led the Mustangs to a first-place finish.
Leading the 49er men was sophomore Chris Enriquez, whose time of 25:05.7 in the men’s 8,000 meters landed him in 18th overall. The combined efforts of the rest of the LBSU men earned a fifth-place finish for the ‘Niners while Cal Poly runners swept the top three spots and took home the men’s title as well.
