NAMPA, Idaho –Three Gauchos captured four event wins at the United Heritage track and field invitational on Feb. 5-6. The meet, held at Jacksons Indoor track at the Idaho Center, was the final regular season indoor meet for the women’s track team.
Tayler Williams notched a double-win in the jumps, starting with Friday’s performance in the long jump of 19-2.75 (5.86m). The mark is Williams’s best non wind-aided jump and was nearly eight inches ahead of the second-place competitor, who jumped 18-7 (5.66m). On Saturday Williams went on to win the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 38-6.75 (11.75m), which was over a foot further than her nearest competitor.
The Gauchos swept the top three positions in the shot put with throws of over 13 meters from Irene Kujore, Kayla Smith and Jean Lightfoot. Kujore led the way with her best heave of 47-6.50 (14.49m), a personal-best of more than six feet that places her third on the Gauchos’ all-time marks list. Smith’s throw of 45-2.25 (13.77m) improved on her mark from the UW Invitational last weekend, and Lightfoot’s throw of 44-9 (13.64m) was also an improvement.
The third event winner for the Gauchos was Helena Montin, who topped the high jump competition with a clearance of 5-8 (1.73m). The mark places her in the Gauchos’ all-time marks list, tied with several other athletes.Zaina Akeh also performed well in the high jump by clearing the third-highest bar, but her overall placement was fifth based on missed attempts at lower heights.
In the running events, the Gauchos’ Kelsey Bolden logged the fastest time in the 60m dash preliminaries at 7.94 seconds. She entered the finals as the top seed and was able to win second place. Her time in the finals was an identical 7.94 seconds, but she was edged at the line by Boise State’s Racquel Jones, who clocked a 7.88. Bolden would also finish sixth in the 200m with a time of 25.65.
This concludes the regular season for UCSB women’s indoor track. The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. The Gauchos’ outdoor track season will begin on Saturday, Feb. 20 with the Gaucho Round-Up at UCSB’s Pauley Track.
