Seven Gauchos won Conference titles on the second and final day of the Big West Championships, bringing the Gauchos’ total number of titles up to 10 over the course of the weekend.
The Gaucho women came tantalizingly close to winning the team title, as they entered the 4x400m relay a point behind Cal State Northridge. The relay squad of Barbara Nwaba, Jenn Carey, Cherrelle McMillian and Sheneice Vargas did all they could, setting a new UCSB record with a time of 3:43.59. But the field was fast this year and the Gauchos finished third, one second behind UC Davis and two seconds behind Cal State Northridge.
The first Gaucho to win a title on day two was Scott Smith, who pulled away from the field on the final lap of the 1500m to clock a time of 3:48.92. Later in the meet he would pick up a second title in the 5000m, clocking a time of 14:31.24 in a one-two Gaucho finish. Julian deRubira was second across the line in 14:32.07.
Danielle Domenichelli was also a double winner, picking up the 5000m title after winning the 10,000m yesterday. She ran 16:39.22, just a second shy of the meet record which was set in 1989. This is the second season that Domenichelli has won both the 5000m and 10,000m races; she redshirted the 2009 season but won both titles in 2008.
The throws were highlighted by a one-two-three finish in the women’s shot put. Kayla Smith led the charge with a new personal best at 50’11.50″ (15.53m). Smith is only the second Gaucho to throw over 50 feet in the women’s shot. She was followed by Irene Kujore at 49’8.25″ (15.14m) and Jean Lightfoot at 47’2.50″ (14.39m). Lightfoot also went All-Conference in the discus with a third-place finish at 162’0″ (49.38m).
A pair of Gauchos won titles in the vertical jumps. Jane Doolittle was the only athlete to clear six feet in the high jump, and she got there without missing a single attempt. After securing the title at 6’0″ (1.83m), she had a few good looks at a personal best bar of 6’2″ that she will be hoping to clear at the NCAA Championships.
Scott Finley picked up the second vertical jumps title in the pole vault. He cleared 16’8″ (5.08m) in two attempts, which ranked him higher than Michael Peterson of UC Davis, who took three attempts to clear the same bar.
Barbara Nwaba added a 400m hurdles title to go along with her win in the heptathlon last weekend. Her time of 60.51 improves upon the school record which she already owns.
There were several more Gauchos who turned in strong All-Conference performances. Among these were Ryan Martin’s second place finish in the 800m, Justine Diaz’s third place finish in the 800m, Breanne Strenkowski’s third place finish in the 5000m, Tayler Williams’s third place finish in the triple jump, and the men’s 4x400m relay’s second place finish.
The next step in the track and field season is the first round of the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 27-May 28 in Austin, Texas.
FINAL BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM SCORES:
Women: Northridge – 193 ; UCSB – 188 ; Davis – 113 ; Fullerton – 97 ; Riverside – 71 ; Cal Poly – 60 ; Long Beach – 53 ; Irvine – 43
Men: Northridge – 173 ; Long Beach – 145 ; Cal Poly – 134 ; UCSB – 132.5 ; Davis – 91 ; Irvine – 58.5 ; Riverside – 43 ; Fullerton – 42
