LOS ANGELES – The UCSB track and field team had a strong performance at the USC Invitational with several wins at Loker Stadium on Saturday and the hammer throw held on March 18 at Mt. SAC in Walnut Calif.
The teams that were present included Cal Poly Pomona, CSU Bakersfield, CSU Dominguez, CSU Fullerton, CSU Los Angeles, Fresno State, Williams, Washington State, Augsburg and USC. Nippon Sports Science University team from Japan was also a special guest at the meet as well as several high schools from the L.A. City Section.
Symone Evans won the women’s triple jump with a mark of 38’00” on her first attempt and more than six inches than her closest competitor. Maureen Ajoku’s highest jump of 5’3″ earned her second overall in the women’s high jump followed by Helena Montin with a jump of 5’1″. Ajoku also placed fifth in the long jump with a leap of 17’7.5″ on her third pass while Tayler Williams finished fourth with a mark of 17’9.75″. Williams also placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 37’3″.
Josh Scherer earned sixth place for the Gauchos with his shot put throw of 47’0.25″ and Derek Masterson throwing 45’3.75″ for eighth place. Julian Samson threw 161’10” good for fourth place and Adam Shigem coming in sixth with a mark of 149’7″. Samson and Scherer also competed in the hammer throw with Samson earning 11th place with his throw of 164’3″ and Scherer throwing 154’8″ for 16th place overall at the Mt. SAC hammer throw competition on March 18. Senior Jean Lightfoot had an impressive performance in the shot put and won the event by throwing 47’8″ and more than four feet farther than second place. Alex Francis placed fifth with a mark of 39’3.75″ and placed 10th in the hammer throw with a toss of 168’11”. Lightfoot also placed sixth in the hammer throw for a mark of 179’08” and competed in the discus.
Mitchell Haag added another win for the Gauchos by jumping 6’8.75″ in the high jump. Max Villalba came in second with a mark of 6’6.75″ and Michael Larocca with a mark of 6’2.75″. Derek Masterson took fourth place with a pole vault mark of 16’0.75″ with Taylor Duncan clearing 14’7.25″ and Andrew Curry clearing 14’1.25″ marks.
Karlon Johnson took 15th in the long jump with his leap of 19’11.5″ and John Walsh jumping 15’6.25″. Johnson earned fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 45’4.5″.
Snita Ashford placed sixth in the 100m dash in 12.19 while Kelsey Bolden finished 13th in 12.51. In the 200m dash, Jessica Johnson ran 25.43 for 10th place while Camille Petty placed seventh with a time of 57.69 in the 400m dash followed closely by Lauren Kodama with a time of 58.18. Symone Evans placed 11th in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.42, Jaimie McCormack in 15.52 and Cherise Dixon finishing 13th in 15.71. Aislynn Mueller and Emily Gordon placed fourth and fifth with times of 63.76 and 64.04 respectively.
On the men’s side, Beidi Beer finished third in the 100m in 10.67 while Cameron Schneider had a time of 11.24. Jacob Vowels ran 22.02 for ninth place in the 200m and Josh Codding ran 23.23. Codding also threw the javelin for a 15th place finish and throwing the 116’7″. In the men’s 400m dash, Jordan Scott finished seventh in 48.76 and Winton Nguyen took 15th in 50.13. Sean Johnson earned sixth in the men’s 110m hurdles by running 15.01. Andre Pinon took fourth place in the 400m hurdles in 53.84 and Alvin Go took eighth place in a time of 54.60.
The women’s 4x100m relay team finished in sixth place with a time of 48.84 with Snita Ashford, Kelsey Bolden, Jessica Jonson and Grace Esslinger. In the 4x400m relay, the Gauchos had a third place finish with Camille Petty, Amanda Rodriguez, Jenn Carey and Jessica Jonson contributing to a time of 3:53.97.
The men’s 4x100m team of Evan Walker, Jacob Vowles, Nate Harvey an d Beidi Beer helped the Gauchos earn a second place finish by running 41.76. In the 4x400m relay for the men, Andre Pinon, Jordan Scott, Alvin Go and Ryan Martin contributed to a time of 3:15.73 and a fourth place finish.
In the women’s 800m run, Justine Diaz had an impressive second place finish with a time of 2:08.89 and less than one hundredth of a second from first place and Sarah Vitug finished seventh with a time of 2:14.94 followed by Callie Mulgannon and Cassie Brooker. In the women’s 1500m run, Megan Petkovic ran 4:40.23 for fifth place followed closely by Christine Cooperstien in 4:41.91 and Ariana Selix in 4:42.97. Ryan Martin cruised to victory to win the men’s 800m with a time of 1:50.59 with Greg Dotson and Rusty Parker coming in with times of 1:53.09 and 1:53.15 respectively.
Juan Paredes also added to another Gaucho win by running the 1500m in 3:52.91 and Tyler Brady running 3:54.58 for third place.
The Gauchos will be heading to Palo Alto for the Stanford Invitational and Claremont for the Cal/Nevada Championship next weekend.
