LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara Track and Field persisted through an eventful weekend in La Jolla as they competed at the Triton Invitational on April 5 and 6. The team had a productive couple of days, securing multiple podium finishes and personal records while battling against dozens of competitors.
TRACK
The Gauchos started their races off well, with the women getting third place in the first event of the day, the 4x100m Relay. Their time of 47.01 put them on the podium among 13 other teams.
UC Santa Barbara then saw multiple first place finishes. Dario Rock came in first out of 26 in the 110m Hurdles, with a time of 14.33s. Tyler Holl then earned gold in the 400m Hurdles, with a personal best time of 52.82s. Finn Andrews also had a productive 400m Hurdles, as he scored a personal best of 53.82s.
Aoife Hernon set a personal record in the 400m and got seventh place with her 55.48s run. Sophia Pardo followed Hernon closely with a ninth place finish of 56.07s, with both of them competing against 41 other racers. Emma Barthel came in 11th out of 59 in the 100m Dash for a personal best of 12.06s.
Abigail Monti had an impressive third place finish in the 400m Hurdles, crossing the finish line with a time of 1:02.08s. Alison Tjoe came in seventh, running a 1:03.35. Tjoe also came in 16th out of 40 in the 100m Hurdles with a time of 14.87.
Pardo proceeded to place 12th out of 86 in the 200m, clocking in at 24.97s. Hernon placed 16th in the 200m with her time of 25.09s. Matthew Staples finished 12th out of 80 competitors in the 200m with his dominant time of 21.81s.
Staples also finished 8th out of 56 in the 100m with a 10.73s run. Justin Fong placed 12th with 10.82 and Sean Beihoffer 20th with 10.98.
The 110m Hurdles was a stacked race for the Gauchos. In addition to Rock's first place medal, Matthew Molina placed fourth with a time of 14.49s. Holl had seventh place with 14.57s, while Andrews grabbed the eighth place slot with 14.87. Finally, Pyrce Edwards snagged 10th place with 15.08, putting all the competing Gauchos in the top 10 for the event.
FIELD
Cassidy Faulkner had a stellar day, finishing fourth out of 33 in the Discus with a new personal record of 43.97m. Malia Benson also finished fourth in her event, beating out 27 other throwers with her heave of 45.22m. Maddie Pelfrey landed 9th out of 22 in the Pole Vault with a 3.64m jump.
Will Denning performed well, leaping into sixth place in the Triple Jump with his 14.13m attempt. Andy Buttrell scored 10th in the Hammer Throw, with his 53.35m launch. Jackson Trimble got ninth out of 35 in the Discus with his toss of 49.33m.
The Gauchos' next stops are the Clay Invite Multis (April 11-13) at Azusa Pacific University and the Beach Invitational at Long Beach State (April 12-13).
