IRVINE, Calif – The UC Santa Barbara Men's and Women's Track & Field team competed in the Anteater-hosted Challenge Cup on Saturday, March 15 after rainy weather and lightning postponed the meet. The Gauchos posted strong showings on the day in both field and track events.
FIELD
The Gauchos competed in eight total field events, where many athletes excelled.
In the pole vault, freshman Sahara Khoury found a spot on the podium, taking third among the women with a launch of 3.48m while her sister Maya Khoury recorded a personal record of 3.33m. For the men, sophomore Collin Young took fourth with a jump of 4.48m while Jarod Nunnemaker recorded a mark of 4.33m in the event.
Javelin saw sophomore Veronika Edson post the best throw with a heave of 36.51m to take first place in the event for the women. Freshman Madison Rust also earned her spot on the podium with a personal best on the day, throwing for 35.80m and taking third. On the men's side, Brad Thomas and Hudson Shaver threw 54.54m and 48.95m, respectively.
The hammer throw saw the women take second, third, and fourth in the competition, where Dimitra Vitogiannis (49.72m), Savannah Mbamo (49.59m), and Kayla Yap (47.71m) all posted personal records for UC Santa Barbara. On the men's side, senior Andy Buttrell also recorded a personal best of 62.78m while taking second in the event.
Shot put saw Buttrell take fifth overall in the men's competition with a throw of 16.52m. Sophomore Chris Nora also nearly eclipsed the 15-meter mark with a personal best throw of 14.96m.
In the discus, Yap had her second personal record of the day, taking third in the women's discus with a throw of 45.76m. Nora continued to shine on the men's side, taking fourth in the event with a huck of 48.14m.
Moving onto the jumping events, the high jump witnessed sophomore Lila Washington jump for 1.66m, taking fifth and posting a new personal best in the process.
The long jump saw Natalie Lyons steal the show for the Gauchos, jumping for a personal best of 5.88m to give her fourth in the event for the women. Hanna Barmettler also had a personal record on the day with a jump of 5.40m. For the men, Will Denning had his strongest performance in the long jump yet with a personal best of 7.24m to take fifth overall. Freshman Braylon Noble also had his best jump of his collegiate career with a 6.24m jump.
Lastly for the field events, the triple jump saw Denning with the best performance once again for the Gauchos, posting a jump of 14.15m for the men. Freshman Samuel Agbakoba also recorded a personal best jump in the event with an official mark of 13.93m. For the women, none other than junior Kennedy Johnson took first with a jump of 12.46m. Freshman Quincie Richards also impressed with a third-place finish in the event, posting a jump of 11.68m.
TRACK
On the track, twelve events commenced for both the men and women, where things started off with the 4x100m relay. The women recorded a time of 47.83 in the event and the men tied their second-fastest time in school history with a finish of 41.01.
The men's steeplechase saw just two athletes in total, both representing UC Santa Barbara as Manny Correia came across the finish line in first with a time of 9:20.90. Freshman Parker Herbert was the other Gaucho, recording a personal best of 10:29.73 in his first 3000m steeplechase.
Sophomore Leah Mendibles was less than a second away from a new personal best in the women's 1500m, squeezing into the top 10 of finishers with 4:43.49. Jana Barron was the other Gaucho in the race and she posted a personal best of 4:54.23 in the event. For the men, sophomore Noah De La Rionda won the men's race for the Gauchos in stunning fashion, recording 3:52.54. KC Barber also ran under four minutes with a time of 3:59.68 and freshman Parker Stickney ran a personal record of 4:04.06.
Maya Lacamp was the fastest for the Gauchos in the women's 800m with a time of 2:18.32, placing sixth. Molly Grupe and Barron also recorded personal bests in the race, timing in at 2:23.22 and 2:27.38. Denny Dong and Barber also had personal bests in the event on the men's side, going neck and neck finishing with 1:56.71 and 1:57.96.
In the last distance event, the Gauchos showed out in the women's 3000m, where Lindsey Reed and Sophia Gutierrez took first and second, duking it out with times of 10:08.14 and 10:08.66, respectively. It was a personal record for the senior Gutierrez and junior Lexi Darley also had a personal best in the event, taking fifth place and clocking in at 10:25.32. In the men's race, Nate Osborn, Matthew Galindo, and Hayden Owen took second, third, and fourth with times of 8:42.77, 8:59.06, and 9:01.40, respectively.
The Gauchos had two top five finishers in the women's 100m hurdles, where Maddie Conte (13.56) and Nyenuchi Okemgbo (14.23) took second and fifth overall to record personal records. In the men's 110m hurdles, Miles Paris and Finn Andrews took second and fourth with times of 14.40 and 14.61, in that order.
On the topic of hurdles, the women's 400m hurdles saw the Gauchos dominate as Okemgbo and Conte took first and second, winning in their respective heats with times of 1:01.35, a personal best for Okemgbo, and 1:01.52. Alison Tjoe (1:02.74) took fourth overall while Maya Cordoba (1:05.91) took second in her heat. For the men, Joey Brown took fourth overall with 55.95 while Sedwitz Dumont won his heat with a personal record of 56.79.
In sprints, the 400m dash featured Mia Shepard taking fourth among all the women, finishing with 56.41 in the event. Briana Bartone (57.96), Natalia McGowan (59.93), and heptathlete Quinn Petzold (1:05.14) all recorded personal bests as well. For the men, Brad Thomas and Liam Ghalam also had personal bests on the day, taking fourth and fifth in the event and timing in at 49.10 and 49.14, respectively.
The women's 100m featured Avery Groves, who was the top finisher in the event for the Gauchos, recording a personal best of 12.20. On the men's side, senior Justin Steele ran a blazing time to nearly set a school record in the event. Steele was 0.01 seconds off the record set by Curtis Borden III at Gaucho Relays earlier this year. Borden took fifth in this event at 10.55 while Matthew Staples took seventh with 10.63. Sean Beihoffer (10.95), Elan Goetz (11.32), and Noble (11.44) all had personal bests as well.
Steele continued his stellar day with yet another near-school record in the 200m dash, taking second overall and recording 21.06 in the race. The mark bests his previous personal best of 21.18, giving him the second and third fastest times in UC Santa Barbara history. Borden and Staples took third and fifth in the event with times of 21.61 and 21.71, in that order.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will look to enjoy a ten-day break to prepare for the 97th annual Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, starting on Wednesday, March 26 and concluding on Saturday, March 29.
