Stanislaus State has several athletes in the running at CCAA Track and Field Meet

Two of the busiest athletes will get things under way for Stanislaus State on Thursday as the California Collegiate Athletic Association Track and Field Championships open in La Jolla.

Franchesca Shepard and Petrice Beattie lead off in the heptathlon at 11 a.m. in the 100-meter hurdles. The three-day meet runs through Saturday on the UC San Diego campus.

Shepard enters the meet ranked No. 1 in the conference with a season high of 4,740 points. Beattie is third (4,604), trailing her teammate and UC San Diego’s Chelsea Challacombe.

San Francisco State’s Devanique Brown returns to defend her crown, although she has not competed in the event this year.

Shepard also has a shot at winning the javelin and Beattie ranks second in the high jump.

Stanislaus State freshman thrower Gracious Togiai is the favorite to win the women’s shot put. The USATF Junior Nationals qualifier has the season’s top mark with the Stan State record of 50 feet, 4 inches, ahead of UC San Diego’s Gabby Eshiet (48-3 ½).

Other Stan State women with top three performance marks include Breanna Lowther in the hammer throw, Mi’Shaye Venerable in the long jump, Sabrina Garcia in the 1500-meter run and Akia Walker in the 800.

For the men, Eric Bejaran is going for his third straight championship in the hammer throw. The junior from Turlock has the conference’s top mark at 209-1. No one else in the CCAA have surpassed 200 feet. He leads the second-best mark by 25 feet.

Modesto Junior College transfer Matthew Gallegos is fourth at 182-2.

Two Warriors can challenge for medals in the distance races: Alejandro Rios in the steeplechase and Alexies Reynoso in the 5,000-meter run. Rios has the second best time in the CCAA with a 9:10.21 and Reynoso’s school-record time of 14:31.60 is fourth best in the conference.

Terrence Gladney is third fastest in the 200 with a time of 21.48 seconds.

Baseball No. 5: Stanislaus State has qualified for the CCAA Tournament but have positioned themselves for a possible NCAA berth.

The Warriors are ranked No. 5 in the West Region poll, released Wednesday. The top six teams at the end of play on May 11 qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

The last time the Warriors qualified for the NCAAs was in 2008.

The Warriors host Chico State on Saturday in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

Stan State already has clinched a berth in the conference tournament at Stockton’s Banner Island Ballpark. It starts May 8.