The Tritons stunned fans with their victories over the University of La Verne and rival Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 22 at Pomona’s Kellogg Field, setting several new UCSD track and field records along the way.
Sagrario Hernandez
Mike Cunningham was a double winner for the Tritons, taking the top spot in both the 110-meter hurdles (15.23) and the 400 hurdles (53.98). He clinched a spot in the men’s all-time top-10 performances with his 400 hurdles time, which was the sixth-best in school history.
On the women’s side, Audrey Sung and Sagrario Hernandez won two events each to pace the UCSD women’s track and field team to victory over La Verne and Pomona. Sung dominated the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:46.43, as well as winning the 3,000 in 10:32.82.
“”This was our first real test; we have not beaten Cal Poly Pomona in years,”” said Triton head coach Tony Salerno.
Hernandez was named the California Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week for the week of February 17 through Feb. 23 for her solid performance during the meet.
Hernandez won the shot put and hammer throw. She managed to come in first of seven athletes in the shot put with a heave of 47-5 and was first of six in the hammer with a throw of 157-5, both marks exceeding the provisional standard for the national meet.
“”[Hernandez] wasn’t even challenged; she keeps pushing herself after her throw of 45-1 at nationals last year,”” Salerno said.
The UCSD women prevailed in 12 of 19 events on the day.
Women’s all-time performances were clocked in the 100 hurdles by Kaylin Siever with a time of 15.73, which is ninth-best in school history, as well as Sandy Schaefer’s 400-meter time of 60.07, which is No. 10 in school history.
“”The women knew they would be dominant,”” Salerno said.
The men’s team was also very successful with a slew of record-breakers dominating the competition, with freshman sprinters and jumpers particularly distinguishing themselves.
Peiman Lahsei led the assault with his 100-meter sprint time of 11.08, which is the fifth-best time in school history, while his performance in the 100 relay with teammates Matt Horner, Chris Patton and Angelo Vargas blasted past the competition to take the sixth-best position on the school records chart at 43.02.
Long jumper Butch Lerma earned the No. 6 position in the school’s record books with his jump of 22-9, while the triple jump performance of Brad Libuit grabbed the No. 8 position.
“”The new [athletes] really came of age; they were fearless competitors,”” Salerno said.
The men’s scores saw UCSD lead by 155 points over Cal Poly Pomona’s 141.5 and La Verne’s 82.5.
The women’s scores further accentuated the lead, with the Tritons winning with 170 points, well over Pomona’s 95 and La Verne’s 75.
Following up on this start to a long season, the UCSD track teams will return to action on March 1 at 9 a.m. at Riverside, Calif., against schools UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara.
“”I think they’ll do well; we are really excited and not afraid of Division I,”” Salerno said.
