GOLETA, Calif (Apr. 17) – UC Santa Barbara track and field turned in strong day one performances across three meets – Mt. SAC Relays, Bryan Clay Invitational, and Beach Invitational – highlighted by a string of personal bests in the middle distance events and solid finishes in the field.
MT SAC RELAYS
At the 66th Mt. SAC Relays, the women's 4x100 relay team of Briana Bartone, Avery Groves, Parker Halgren, and Amor Jones ran 45.80 to place third in their heat.
Matt Staples added a strong showing in the men's 100m, taking fourth overall in 10.44, while Maddie Conte posted a 59.20 finish in the women's 400m hurdles.
Pyrce Edwards also competed in the men's 110m hurdles, crossing in 14.61, and Svea Wickelgren placed fifth in the women's 800m with a time of 2:11.88.
Natalie Lyons posted a mark of 5.59m in the women's long jump for the field events.
BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL
At Bryan Clay, the Gauchos saw several standout performances on the track. Nate Osborn led the men's distance group in the 5,000m with a personal best of 14:23.51, while Ryann Strawn and Danielle Hollander both recorded personal bests in the women's 5,000m, crossing in 17:14.13 and 17:28.26, respectively.
In the 800m, the Gauchos added another wave of personal records as Niall Monteleone ran 1:53.28, David Winston finished in 1:55.55, and Noah Gordon posted an impressive 1:51.26. On the women's side, Kenna Bradley clocked a personal best of 2:09.50, just ahead of Isabel Ross, who also set a personal record in 2:09.88.
The distance squad also competed in the 10,000m on Thursday, where Lindsey Reed led UCSB with a 36:20.33 finish, followed by Lexi Darley in 37:36.82.
BEACH INVITATIONAL
At the Beach Invitational, Camden Leucht delivered a second place finish in the men's 3,000m steeplechase, clocking 9:32.75.
In the field, Claudia Turner placed second in the women's pole vault with a clearance of 3.62m, while Ethan Nuttall matched that finish on the men's side with a vault of 4.80m.
In the men's hammer, Sam Polkenhorn led the group with a mark of 52.18m, followed by Emmanuel Fitzgerald at 43.64m and Nickolas Tamayo at 41.09m. Cassidy Faulkner paced the women's hammer with a throw of 49.93m, just ahead of Dimitra Vitogiannis at 49.29m.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will return to Mt SAC Relays, Bryan Clay, and Beach Invitational for day two of competition.
