The track and field season may be winding down, but the Tritons are not losing any momentum in their final competitions. The women’s track and field team captured its first championship on May 7 at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships and the men’s squad finished third. The women eclipsed defending champion and host Chico State, narrowly outscoring the Wildcats 199.5 to 198. In addition, head coach Tony Salerno was named the CCAA Women’s Coach of the Year.
Top notch:
“The meet was one of the most exciting meets I’ve been involved with in the 25 years I’ve been coaching at the collegiate level,” Salerno said. “There is a tremendous rivalry between us and Chico. This is a landmark for us, and something we’ve been working toward all year.”
Salerno was bestowed the title of Women’s Coach of the Year after the other coaches at the conference voted on the award.
“It’s a great honor to have the other coaches honor you,” he said. “But this is not just the head coach’s award — it’s on behalf of the other coaches on staff, too.”
For the women, senior Kendra Canape regained her title as the CCAA high jump champion, a title she previously held in 2003. Canape’s jump of 1.67 meters was a comfortable two inches better than her closest competitor.
Junior Mimi Hodgins and senior Lindsay Stalker finished first and second in the 800-meter, crossing the line at 2 minutes, 11.73 seconds and 2:11.84, respectively.
For the 1,500, the pair finished 1-2 once again, this time with Stalker taking first in a time of 4:42.78 and Hodgins finishing at 4:42.82.
“We actually planned it ahead of time,” Hodgins said, adding that she and Stalker were ranked first and second in both events. “This meet was all about the team, and I didn’t want to race my teammate. There’s no need for us to race right now. It’s pretty amazing that we were that highly ranked and that we were able to do that.”
Freshman Whitney Johnson received second place overall in the women’s triple jump with her mark of 11.86 meters.
But a championship is not built on first- and second-place finishes alone. In a sport like track and field, a championship team requires depth.
Freshmen Diane Dunn and Katie Olson and junior Michelle DiMeo rounded out the 1,500 as the Triton women took 1-2-3-4-5, earning the team 33 points in a single event. The Triton women had never swept an event before.
“It was the first time in UCSD history that there were three girls on the award podium,” Hodgins said.
In the other distance events, freshman Emily McGregor, DiMeo and junior Nina Miller finished 4-5-6 in the 3,000. McGregor went on to finish third in the 5,000. In the 10,000-meter, junior Kate Branson and senior Lindsey Young took third and fifth, respectively.
Sophomore Elisa Holiday supported the team with her third and fourth-place finishes in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Freshman Laiah Blue took fourth and fifth in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles.
In the steeplechase competition, sophomore Brenda Stevens and freshman Kara Cross finished fourth and eighth, respectively. Junior Briana Hinga took third in the heptathlon with 4296 points and teammate junior Amy Beeman finished fourth with 4166 points.
For the men, junior Mike Cunningham was the CCAA champion in the 110 hurdles. His time of 14.43 was a half-second faster than the second-place finisher. Cunningham pulled off second-place finishes in the 400 hurdles and the 400 run with times of 52.66 and 49.01, respectively. In turn, teammate junior Jon Patton received third in the 110 hurdles at 14.78 and fourth in the 200 dash, crossing the finish line at 21.92.
For distance events, senior Luke Sigmon garnered seventh and eighth place finishes in the 5,000 and 10,000 runs, finishing at 15:58.89 and 34:09.98, respectively.
Freshman Matt Noble surprised competition, finishing second in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:13.75. Senior Eric Nilsen and freshman John Yano finished third and sixth, respectively.
High jumper senior Kevin Beeman finished in third place overall with a jump of 2.00 meters while senior Marcus Keller received fourth place in the triple jump at 14.37 meters.
Track and field next competes at the Claremont Championships on May 14. The NCAA qualifiers, which includes approximately 12 UCSD athletes, will continue on to compete in the 2005 National Championships, held May 26 through May 28 in Abilene, Texas.
