2024 Women's Track and Field Roster
Biography
UC SANTA BARBARA
2023 Track and Field
Hold’s UC Santa Barbara javelin record … UCSB Athletics Newcomer of the Year … Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year … SBART Female Track Athlete of the Year … Ranked in National Top 30 … Won Big West Conference and advanced to post-season regionals.
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO
2022 Softball
Saw action in 22 games, including 20 starts … Split time at second base for the Toreros, hitting .279 (17-61) and eight RBI … Had an outstanding game against Nebraska (Mar. 15 - G2), accounting for three of the four runs scored by the Toreros.
2021 Softball
Saw action and started in 33 games … Ranked second on the team in batting average at .265 on the season … Scored a team-leading 10 runs with one double and two RBI … Tied for first on the team in walks (8) … Was never caught stealing with four stolen bases in four attempts … Registered a .980 fielding percentage on the year, committing only one error.
HIGH SCHOOL
Captain of Track and Field and Softball … Two-time All-Inland Valley Cross Country First Team … Won back-to-back league titles and went on to compete in Division I SS-CIF … Three-time All-Inland Valley Track and Field First Team … Holds the school record for the triple jump … Won the Riverside City Championship in the triple jump … Competed at Division I SS-CIF for triple jump, long jump and the 4x4 … Three-time All-Inland Valley Softball First Team … Batted .518 over her four-year career … Team was the Inland Valley League Champions from 2016-2019 … Named the Principles Female Athlete of Riverside PolyTechnic … Senior Year MVP … Played club softball with Athletics Mercado … Team won the 2019 PGF Premier National Championship.
PERSONAL
Malia “Lia” Jade Benson grew up in Riverside, Calif. … Majoring in Psychological and Brain Sciences … Would like to attend grad school and medical school to eventually become a Reproductive and Fertility Endocrinologist … Favorite sports memory is winning the conference title on her first throw of a meet with the win being the first gold medal for her team … The whole past year being my first year doing the sport/event was the greatest achievement … Favorite sports team is the Dodgers … Spends her free time studying … Favorite movies are Mr. Peabody and Sherman and the Saw series … Favorite show is Family Guy … Favorite musical artist is Akon.
Historical Player Information
