BOSTON, Mass. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Track & Field team competed in their last indoor meet of the season on Saturday, where several Gauchos competed in the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invite. The single-day meet saw much success from UC Santa Barbara in both field events and track events as the day progressed.

FIELD

In the women's high jump, Allison Tito served as the sole representative of the Gauchos, placing sixth out of 19 competitors with a jump of 1.65m. Tito cleared 1.55m and 1.60m on her first attempts and kicked it into high gear to clear 1.65m in her third and last jump.

Out of 23 throwers in the weight throw, Savannah Mbamo took ninth with a throw of 16.02m. Half of Mbamo's throws were worthy of a top 10 finish in the competition, as she also threw 15.95m and 15.46m.

The Gauchos wrapped up their field events in winning fashion with the triple jump, where Kennedy Johnson took first place out of 19 athletes with a jump of 12.49m, beating out the next best score by 0.19m. Quincie Richards finished with a top 10 placement of her own, taking eighth with a jump of 11.40m in her first attempt.

"It was great to see those girls jump well on back-to-back days and make the finals against great athletes" said head coach Vijay Saxena. 

TRACK

After a tremendous performance at Crimson Elite, Maddie Conte continued her excellence in the 60-meter hurdles. In preliminaries, Conte took first in her heat and third overall while snagging a spot in the final round with a time of 8.75. Alison Tjoe was just four placements away from qualifying for the finals as she ran 9.28 and took 13th. Maya Cordoba finished with a personal record, posting 9.88.

The finals saw Conte put on a show as she took second place and posted a time of 8.52.

The 500-meter race saw Aoife Hernon and Meagan Kennedy competing for Santa Barbara. Hernon set a school record in the event in her fourth overall finish, timing in at 1:14.86. Kennedy followed close behind with a time of 1:18.50.

Next up was the 400-meter races, which included the invite and open races. The invite witnessed Mia Shepard (56.82), Briana Bartone (58.03), and Maya Cordoba (59.97) perform well while the open saw Tjoe set a personal best, taking third place with a time of 57.63.

After the 400-meter dash, the 200-meter dash had invite and open races of its own. Conte and Sophia Pardo both fell just short of top 10 finishes as Conte took 11th with 24.60 and Pardo took 14th with 24.83 out of 41 runners. In the open, Avery Groves (25.87) placed 13th while Quinn Petzold finished second in her heat with a time of 26.42.

Moving on to the distance events, the 1K race featured personal bests from Maya Lacamp, Leah Mendibles, and Alexa Bryson. Lacamp was second in her heat and led the Gauchos with a time of 2:57.45, setting a school record. Mendibles (3:01.78) was seconds away from a sub-3 minute performance and Bryson (3:02.79) won her heat by beating out another athlete in the final stretch.

Lindsey Reed led Santa Barbara in the 3K with a time of 10:04.39, followed by Ryann Strawn and Jana Barron recording 10:14.15 and 10:39.09, respectively. All three athletes posted personal bests on the day.

"We saw the distance girls hit another gear and close well in some off-distance races," said Saxena. "It was awesome to see them hit a confidence booster going into outdoor."

To finish out the weekend, the Gauchos put Pardo, Hernon, Shepard, and Bartone out for the 4x400m relay, where they collectively achieved a fifth-place finish out of 15 teams, winning their heat and timing in at 3:46.21. Hernon had the fastest split for the Gauchos on the second leg, running 55.8. The Gauchos achieved the second-fastest time in school history, barely missing out on their first-place mark set at Nevada Invitational.

"They had two rough days of competition and still finished with the second-fastest time in school history" said Saxena. "When outdoor conference comes, we know they can finish strong when they are tired."

UP NEXT

With the Gauchos wrapping up their season as far as indoor meets are concerned, the Gauchos will look forward to a long break before the beginning of the 2025 Outdoor Track & Field season. Their first outdoor meet will be the Gaucho Relays, which will occur on Mar. 1 in Santa Barbara, Calif.