SAN LUIS OBISPO – Tayler Williams became the second Gaucho to set a school record this season with her performance in the triple jump at the Cal Poly Invitational. The meet featured nine collegiate teams and many more individually entered athletes.
The women’s triple jump featured two Gauchos vying for a school record. Eventually it would be Tayler Williams who set the new record with a mark of 39’10.25″ (12.15m). Tamara Thomas was second with her best mark measuring 39’8.75″ (12.10m). For a few minutes there was an unusual situation where Thomas held the school record with her wind-legal 12.10m mark, but Williams led the competition with a wind-aided 12.13m mark. In the end Williams would hit a wind-legal 12.15m on her final jump to win the meet and take the record.
Williams also posted a six-meter mark in the long jump with a leap of 19’8.50″ (6.01m), which would have been a UCSB record under legal wind conditions. She was the winner of that event as well. Although the wind was above regulation for record setting, it was under the allowable +4.0 meters/second for NCAA qualifying purposes. Entering this weekend, the mark would place in the top-15 spots in the West Region. Her triple jump mark would place her in the top-20.
Winners on the track included Drew Johnston, who took the 400m hurdles with a time of 53.65. He also set another personal best in the 110m hurdles at 14.83, which was good for second place. In the women’s 400m hurdles, Aislynn Mueller took the victory with a time of 63.99.
The Gauchos had two winners in the throws. Jean Lightfoot won the women’s discus with a personal-best throw of 153’8′ (46.83m). Alex Umstead won the men’s hammer with a toss of 176’2″ (53.69m), and was closely followed by teammate Chris Hamilton in second at 174’8″ (53.24m).
Ryan Martin was the other event winner for UCSB, finishing the 400m with a seasonal best time of 48.02. Kelsey Bolden performed well in the women’s sprints with a wind-aided time of 12.09 in the 100m.
Two high jumpers returned to the track for the first time since last season. Barbara Nwaba placed second with a clearance over 5’8″ (1.73m), and Christina Nowak placed third with a clearance over 5’6″ (1.68m).
Finally, Gaucho assistant coach Avery Blackwell decided to participate in the men’s 5000m, and he ended up winning the race. He ran 15:16.34 on the track where he trained as a member of Cal Poly’s team from 1997-2001.
The next meet for the Gauchos will be the Big West Challenge Cup on Friday, April 9 at UC Irvine.
