FULLERTON, Calif. (May 12, 2023) – The UC Santa Barbara Track and Field teams competed in Day 1 of The Big West Championships hosted by Cal State Fullerton. Today resulted in final performances for numerous field events with the track events wrapping up the qualifying heats.
One of the best performances of the day came from redshirt freshman Amanda Spear. The thrower stepped onto the podium twice today as she finished in second in both the hammer and discus. She was just shy of her PR in the hammer as Spear made a throw of 54.53 meters while making her mark in the discus with a throw of 50.16 meters.
Along with Spear's performances, other Gauchos placed high enough in their events to earn points towards the team score: Emma Barthel in the long jump, Eitan Goore in the pole vault, Jackson Trimble and Jared Freeman in the discus, and Zane Golpariani, Sierra Ransweiler and Madeline Franco in the 3000-meter steeplechase.
The performances on the track cannot go unnoticed either. These runners will be competing tomorrow for a chance to make it on the podium and help their team in hopes of coming home with The Big West Championship: Lauren Lum in the 1500, Tyler Holl in the 110 hurdles and 400 hurdles, Dario Rock in the 110 hurdles, Deonne McCrary and Brendan Fong in the 400, Mariana Lanz in the 400 and 400 hurdles, Advait Krishnan and Isabella Abusaid in the 800, and Finn Andrews in the 400 hurdles.
Fans can start watching the action with the men's javelin at 10 a.m. with the women's to follow, both of which have Gauchos Chase Tarr and Malia Benson coming in with the top regular season mark. Events on the track will begin at 1 p.m. A live stream will be available through ESPN+ with live stats through finishedresults.com.
