FULLERTON, Calif. / AZUSA, Calif. (Apr. 11) – The UC Santa Barbara Track and Field team turned in one of its strongest performances of the outdoor season this weekend, highlighted by a Challenge Cup team victory from the Gaucho women, a record breaking performance in the women's 4x100m relay, and a decathlon victory from Hudson Shaver at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
CHALLENGE CUP TRACK
Santa Barbara started with a strong showing in the women's 1500m, led by freshman Sierra Gill, who captured the event in 4:36.39. Jordin Lieberman followed closely behind in second with 4:37.09, while Danielle Hollander added another scoring finish in fourth.
Freshman Kenna Bradley took the win in the 800m with 2:10.80, with Isabel Ross placing second with a personal best of 2:11.18.
The hurdles group added major points as Maddie Conte swept the 100m hurdles in 13.88 and 400m hurdles in 59.59 to anchor the women's title.
In the sprints, Parker Halgren led the Gauchos with a second place finish and blazing personal record of 11.64 in the 100m, followed by a third place performance from Briana Bartone in the 400m, who crossed the line in a personal record of 55.51.
The women's 4x100m relay team of Avery Groves, Amor Jones, Halgren and Bartone set a new UCSB school record of 45.72, while the Gauchos closed the meet with a victory in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:46.45.
On the men's side, Matt Staples highlighted the sprint group with a second place finish and personal best 10.40 in the 100m, before returning to place third in the 200m with another personal record
In the distance events, Parker Herbert also ran a personal best of 3:56.93 in the 1500m, while Noah Gordon added a second place finish in the 800m.
The men's side picked up key relay points with second place finishes in both the men's 4x100m and men's 4x400m relays.
CHALLENGE CUP FIELD
Kenndy Johnson led the women's field squad with a first place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 12.73m.
In the high jump, Layanna Green and Dalila Washington both cleared 1.66m to finish second overall and set personal bests.
The pole vault group added another strong showing, led by freshman Sydni Harden, who placed second with 3.80m, while Jared Nunnemaker placed third on the men's side.
In the throws, Chris Nora recorded a personal best of 48.62m to place fourth in discus, while Sam Polkenhorn and Emmanuel Fitzgerald both delivered personal best performances in the hammer throw.
On the women's side, Dimitra Vitogiannis added a second place finish in the discus with 45.78m.
BRYAN CLAY HEPTATHLON
Veteran Jess Mackenzie placed third overall in Section B with a personal best of 5512 points, one of the top combined-event performances of the weekend for UCSB. She closed the competition with a strong second day that included a 47.36m javelin throw and 5.68m long jump mark.
In Section D, Bella Vally also earned a third place finish with a personal best overall score of 5078 points. She capped her competition with marks of 5.31m in the long jump, 37.44m in the javelin, and 2:26.69 in the 800m.
Competing in Section C, Hanna Barmettler secured second overall with a personal best 4996 points, highlighted by a 5.65m long jump and 2:21.04 finish in the 800m to close the meet.
Madison Rust added an eighth place finish in Section D with 4621 points, including a strong 43.82m javelin throw, while Amanda Eames placed ninth in Section C with 4648 points.
In the top division of the meet, Ally Tito competed in Section A, finishing with 3963 points against one of the deepest heptathlon fields of the weekend.\
BRYAN CLAY DECATHLON
On the men's side, Hudson Shaver delivered one of the standout performances of the weekend, capturing the Decathlon Section C title with a personal best score of 7584 points.
Shaver opened the day with a 14.99 finish in the 110m hurdles, followed by a 43.29m throw in the discus and a 4.00m clearance in the pole vault to maintain control of the standings.
He then added a 53.96m mark in the javelin, one of the top throws of his competition, before closing the decathlon with a 4:27.98 performance in the 1500m to secure the overall victory.
UP NEXT
Next weekend, the Gauchos will head to Long Beach to compete in the two day Long Beach Invitational.
