Criner, Tolson Ready to Contend

Junior Joe Criner and sophomore Christina Tolson of Cal State Northridge are expected to contend for a pair of individual titles when the Big Sky Conference indoor track and field championships are held in Bozeman, Mont., on Friday and Saturday.

Criner, who won the men’s 100 and 200 meters in the 1997 Big Sky outdoor championships, is a heavy favorite in the 200 and his best of 6.34 seconds in the 55 is only .03 seconds shy of the conference leader.

Tolson is the Big Sky leader in the women’s shotput at 52-7 3/4 and ranks second in the 20-pound weight throw at 58-9 1/2.

Criner has set two school indoor records in the 200 with his best of 20.92 qualifying him for the NCAA indoor championships in Indianapolis next month.

Tolson has set three school records in the shotput, where her best mark is only 2 1/4 inches short of the automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA championships.

The Northridge men, paced by Criner and fellow school record-holders Cinton Lane, Billy Bush and Clinte Motley, are expected to contend for a second-place finish behind Idaho State.

Lane has run a conference-leading 46.88 in the 400 with fellow junior Bush at a conference best of 60-3 1/2 in the shotput.

Motley, the runner-up in the triple jump in the 1997 state high school championships for Alta Loma, has bounded a conference-leading 49-6 1/4 in that event.

Sophomore Brandi Prieto and freshman Regean Hill could also win events for the Northridge women, who are expected to place between fourth and sixth.

Prieto is the conference leader in the triple jump with a school record of 41-3 1/2 and Hill is the co-leader in the 55 at 7.08.