UCSD relays dominate at Cal State San Marcos while Tritons place well in other events.
The UCSD women’s and men’s track and field teams dominated at the Mangrum Invitational this past Saturday at Cal State San Marcos. The excitement of the meet came in the men and women’s 4-x-400 meter relays, as well as the men’s 4-x-100 meter relay, with the Tritons winning their races handily.
The Tritons also performed well in the men’s 100-meter. Sophomore Emmanuel Elijah finished in second place with a personal best of a wind-aided 10.81 seconds.
“I felt I had a pretty solid performance today,” Elijah told the UCSD Guardian. “I’m happy with the fact that my times keep improving as each week goes by.” His teammates, freshmen Paul Doan and Justin Hunter, finished in 10.87 and 10.93 seconds, respectively, good for fifth and seventh place.
On the field, junior Haley Libuit took first in the javelin throw with a distance of 133 1/3, and senior Ellexi Snover took second with 127 1/4. Already author of provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Championships, Snover told the UCSD Athletics Department that she hopes to improve her record to 150 feet. On the men’s side, senior Travis Vandegriff came in first with a throw of 174 1/3, besting the competition by nearly three feet.
Snover (57.56) and sophomores Jackie Chalmers (57.61) and Marisa Padilla (58.01), who are part of the provisional qualifying 4-x-400 meter relay team for the NCAA Championships, along with senior Sabrina Pimentel, came in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 400 meter event. Though they did not compete in the 4-x-400 meter relay at this invitational, they are looking to improve their relay time and hopefully surpass the school record.
Back on the field, senior Chantia Justice and junior Kristin Sato, who already have provisional qualifiers in the triple jump, further solidified their qualifying status, finishing in first and second, respectively, with jumps of 38 1/6 and 37 4.5. Representing the Triton men in the triple jump, provisional NCAA qualifier sophomore Derek Van de Streek finished as the first collegiate competitor and second overall with a 46 10.75 jump.
With so many provisional qualifiers, the team feels it has a good chance of placing well in conference.
“I feel like we as a team have a great chance of winning conference with the amount of talent that the team has,” Elijah told the Guardian. “As long as each individual does their part, it has the potential to be a great season. It is definitely something to look forward to.”
The team will split up this week, as the decathletes and heptathletes will compete at the California Invitational on April 15 and April 16 in Azusa, California while the rest of the team will head to Walnut, California to compete at the Mt. SAC relays from April 16 to April 18.
