IRVINE, Calif. (May 8) – The UC Santa Barbara heptathletes and decathletes opened the first day of the Big West Championships in Irvine, with Hudson Shaver sitting in third place heading into day two, and Jess Mackenzie sitting in fifth. 

DECATHLON
Sophomore Hudson Shaver represented Santa Barbara in the decathlon, opening competition with a sixth-place finish in the 100m dash, crossing the line in 11.50. He followed with a third place mark in the long jump at 6.83m, before winning the shot put with a personal record throw of 15.37m.

In the high jump, Shaver cleared 1.97m to tie for second. To finish out the day, Shaver clocked in a 52.32 in the 400m.

HEPTATHLON
On the women's side, the Gauchos opened the heptathlon with the 100m hurdles, where Jessica Mackenzie led the squad with a fourth place finish in 13.96. Bella Vally followed in eighth at 14.64, while Amanda Eames clocked in a personal best of 14.66. Hanna Barmettler followed in 14.82, with Ally Tito finishing in 14.93.

In the high jump, Tito led UCSB with a third place clearance of 1.68m. Mackenzie and Eames each cleared 1.56 meters to tie for eighth, while Vally finished at 1.53m and Barmettler at 1.50m.

Jess Mackenzie took first overall in the shot put, with a mark of 13.15m. Vally followed in fifth with 12.06m, with Eames turning in a mark of 10.20m. Barmettler and Tito rounded out the team with 9.73m and 8.46m respectively. 

In the 200m, Vally clocked in a personal record of 24.94 to finish fifth overall. Mackenzie was the next Gaucho to cross the line with 25.43, with Barmettler following in 25.79. Eames and Tito followed close behind, in 25.90 and 25.97.

NEXT UP
The UC Santa Barbara multis will return to Anteater Stadium for day two of the Big West Championships, to determine final heptathlon and decathlon rankings.