IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's and Women's Track & Field teams competed in their last regular season meet of the year last weekend at Steve Scott Invitational in Irvine, Calif. Additionally, the Gauchos sent a few athletes to the one-day Oxy Invite in Los Angeles, Calif.
FIELD
In the jumping events, the women's high jump witnessed Lila Washington take tenth place with a mark of 1.58m while Kennedy Johnson took ninth in the triple jump with a leap of 11.34m. Natalie Lyons also impressed with a jump of 5.86m to take eighth overall. On the men's side, Will Denning placed second in the triple jump with a 15.08m jump.
For throwing, Dimitra Vitogiannis took fourth in the women's discus (46.32m) and eighth in the hammer throw (48.46m) to build on her impressive year.
TRACK
To start things off on the track, the two-time Big West Track Athlete of the Week continued to impress, as Mia Shepard took first in the women's 400m dash with a time of 54.15, nearly a second faster than second place. Santa Barbara also took first on the men's side of the event, as Justin Steele timed in at 47.21 in the men's 400m. Aoife Hernon (56.00) and Liam Ghalam also snatched top-10 placements in the 400m.
Shepard and Steele continued to shine in the 200m as well, with Shepard placing fourth and going sub-24 seconds while Steele secured fourth with a 21.28 time.
The men's 100m dash saw Matthew Staples secure a podium spot with a time of 10.58 as well as take sixth in the 200m, coming in at 21.35.
On the distance side, freshman Jana Barron took the bronze in the women's 3000m steeplechase, timing in at 11:14.22. The men's 5000m race also saw Hayden Owen place sixth with a time of 14:54.00.
Additionally, Dylan Manning and KC Barber had strong performances in the men's 800m at Oxy Invite, as Manning took eighth with a time of 1:53.59 while Barber placed tenth, clocking in at 1:53.92.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will now prepare for the playoffs, as the Big West Multis take place on May 9-10 in Long Beach, Calif. A week later on May 16-17, the Big West Championships will commence in Long Beach, Calif. as well.
