SACRAMENTO, Calif. (May 23, 2023) – The UC Santa Barbara Track and Field teams had six athletes earn a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field West Regionals, being hosted by Sacramento State from tomorrow, May 24, through Saturday, May 27. The top finishers in the events at this regional will then move onto the NCAA Championships, which will take place from June 7 through 10 at Myers A. Stadium in Austin.
On Day 1 of this four-day event, the Gauchos will have three athletes competing in the pole vault and the javelin. The men's javelin is slated to start at 1:30 p.m. PT as Brad Thomas and Chase Tarr look to qualify for a spot at the NCAA Championships. Thomas made the cut after throwing a career-best 63.66 meters in the event at The Big West Championships, which was good enough for him to finish second in the meet and continue his season. Tarr made his qualifying throw earlier in the season, hitting a mark of 64.35 meters at The Challenge Cup on his way to winning the gold. Also competing for the Gauchos tomorrow is Goore, who tied the UC Santa Barbara record in this event with a mark of 5.25 meters. That jump at Mt. SAC won him the meet and helped him qualify for the West Regional.
On Day 2, just Malia Benson will be competing as she hits the runway in the javelin. The softball player-turned javelin thrower broke the school record at The UCSB Invitational on her way to winning the event with a throw with her qualifying mark of 50.12 meters. She was just an inch shy of beating that mark at The Big West Championships, where she won the conference meet with a throw of 50.08 meters.
As the Gauchos continue through the meet, Leon Gillis will take the stage in the high jump. The freshman finally cleared the seven-foot mark at The Big West Championships with a mark of 7-feet and one-quarter inc. This was good enough for him to win the conference title as a freshman while earning a spot at the NCAA West Regional.
The final athlete competing this week is Mariana Lanz. She will compete on Day 4, taking her talents to the triple jump pit. She hit her qualifying mark of 12.57 meters at the Beach Opener back in March as she hopes to go for a run in Sacramento that leads to Austin.
Fans can follow along with all of the action over the next four days through ESPN+ and live results. There will be a different video stream for each day on ESPN+, with links available at ucsbgauchos.com, while live results will be kept through flashresults.ncaa.com.
