SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos competed in their first outdoor track & field meet of the year at Gaucho Relays. The one-day event saw the men's and women's teams dominate the competition in nineteen total events, including eight field events and eleven track events.
FIELD
The hammer throw started things off for the day, where Dimitra Vitogiannis took a spot on the podium with a throw of 48.42m. Two more Gauchos snuck inside the top 10 for the women as Savannah Mbamo and Veronika Edson threw for 45.37m and 39.53m, respectively. Andy Buttrell took first place in the men's hammer throw with the fourth best mark in school history, recording a 61.53m throw. Samuel Polkenhorn also placed fourth with a fine mark of his own at 56.14m.
In the shot put, Buttrell stood out amongst the pack once again, throwing 17.02m. Three more Gauchos threw marks that awarded them spots in the top 10, including Anthony Gash (14.96m), Chris Nora (13.83m), and Hudson Shaver (12.82m). Saloni Khandhadia dominated on the women's side, posting a mark of 12.28m to achieve second place overall. Mbamo also sneaked inside the top 10, throwing 11.19m.
In the women's high jump, Lila Washington tied for first eclipsing the bar at 1.60m while Katie Meade took fourth with a 1.55m jump.
The Gauchos made up 9 of the top 12 in the women's long jump. Natalie Lyons and Allison Tito took first and second with marks of 5.72m and 5.70m, in that order. The men had four in the top 10, with their top jumper Will Denning recording a jump of 6.90m.
The triple jump witnessed Kennedy Johnson absolutely dominate the competition with a jump of 12.71m, almost a full meter in front of second place. Quincie Richards also took third with a jump of 11.58m. Denning and Samuel Agbakoba took first and second place on the men's side with marks of 13.98m and 13.79m, respectively.
Maddie Pelfrey took first in the women's pole vault with a 3.65m mark as well.
TRACK
The track events kicked off with the women's 4x800m relay, where Leah Mendibles, Alexa Bryson, Mia Ziblatt, and Maya Lacamp collectively ran a 9:13.45, beating out Pepperdine in the final stretch to record a school record in the event.
Up next was the 400m hurdles, where the Gauchos secured the top three spots overall. Maddie Conte led all athletes with a sub-minute performance, timing in at 59.31. Sedwitz Dumont took third for the men in the event, recording a time of 57.16.
The 4x100m relay saw both the men's and women's teams take first place, with the men finishing with a UC Santa Barbara school record of 40.67 and the women timing in at 46.87.
The 3000m run saw Lindsey Reed (10:15.53) and Danielle Hollander (10:23.31) take the top two spots for the women. Nate Osborn took third on the men's side with a time of 8:42.35.
Half of the top 10 finishers in the 100m hurdles wore a Gaucho uniform. Conte led the way once again, taking first with a time of 13.90 in the event. The men had four inside the top 10 of the 110m hurdles where Miles Paris and Dumont took top two overall, posting 14.38 and 14.83, respectively.
The 100m dash saw Sophia Pardo leading the Gauchos on the women's side, placing second with a time of 12.06. Third through sixth place also belonged to the Gauchos, as Mia Shepard, Amor Jones, Parker Halgren, and Avery Groves were close behind Pardo.
The men saw transfer Curtis Borden record a UC Santa Barbara school record with a 10.47 second performance. Matthew Staples took second with 10.60 and Sean Beihoffer recorded a top 10 finish as well.
The sprint medley saw the Gauchos take home the gold on both sides, where the women won in comfortable fashion with a time of 4:06.21. The men were close with Westmont for the last lap, but freshman Denny Dong stayed in front across the finish line to time in at 3:28.24. Both teams now hold school records in the event.
In the 1500m race, four of the five top finishers on the women's side represented Santa Barbara and went under five minutes. Lacamp and Mendibles led the charge with times of 4:46.77 and 4:48.51, in that order. KC Barber and Noah de la Rionda recorded times under four minutes to take first and second as well, posting 3:57.28 and 3:58.93, respectively.
The 2000m steeplechase only featured Gaucho athletes on the women's side, as Bryson (7:33.25) and Ryann Strawn (7:50.50) took on the challenge. Manny Correia and Parker Simmons recorded times under six minutes in the men's race as well. Correia now hold the school record for the 2000m steeplechase.
Last, but not least, the track events at the Gaucho Relays ended with the 4x400m relay. While the men did not compete, the women took first place recording 3:56.24.
Among three teams eligible to compete for a team win, both the men (235 points) and women (277.50 points) for the Gauchos came out victorious by a wide margin.
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara has four days to prepare for the UCSB Multis on Wednesday, March 5. The meet will take place at the Pauley Track.
