Nobody knows the importance of getting off on the right foot more than a track and field coach. Tony Salerno, head coach of the UCSD track and field team, knew that his team could use last week’s season-opening meet as a way to set the pace for the year ahead.
Junior hurdler Laiah Blue (right) earned a first-place finish for the women’s team with her time of 62.44 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles.Blue’s impressive time qualifies her for the Division II national championships, which are held in Charlotte, N.C. on May 24 through May 26.
In its first competition of the season, the UCSD track and field team faced some of the top schools in California. The 11th annual Rossi Relays, held at the Claremont Colleges, included such powerhouse teams as the University of Southern California and UC Irvine.
However, the Tritons were not intimidated, and had a very successful weekend. Salerno viewed the weekend meet as a perfect way to open the regular season.
“”Rossi is a great introductory meet,”” Salerno said. “”It gives us an opportunity to see our new players perform and, more importantly, it lets the freshmen get their nerves out in their first real races.””
Sophomore Jillian Sola placed fifth in the women’s shot put at the Rossi Relays on Feb. 24, while junior teammate Lauren Anderson took third place with a throw of 12.94 meters.
The Tritons did more than just shake off their preseason jitters. The women’s team was outstanding throughout the meet, with three Tritons earning at least third place in their respective events.
At the top of the list was junior hurdler Laiah Blue’s first place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, whose time of 62.44 seconds was enough to qualify her for the Division II national championships at the end of the season.
Also qualifying for the national championships at the Rossi Relays were junior runner and discus thrower Dianne Dunn, who placed second in the 3,000-meter run with her time of just over 10 minutes, and sophomore discus thrower Jillian Sola, who placed second in the discus with a throw of 45.44 meters.
On the men’s side, the trio of senior sprinter and hurdler Dan Noel, sophomore jumper Scott Tsuda and junior thrower Elliot Williamson led the Tritons throughout the meet.
Tsuda, last year’s California Collegiate Athletic Association Freshman of the Year in the triple jump, looks to continue last season’s performance with an even stronger showing. Junior jumper and hurdler Khalil Hooper was also satisfied with the results of the Rossi Relays.
“”I think it went really well, especially for the first meet of the year,”” Hooper said. “”It was a great chance for everybody to get all their kinks out before heading into the bigger meets of the year.””
This year’s Tritons are a young team. Last year, the women’s team won the CCAA championship by 110 points, but this year’s team will be without Briana Hinga and Mimi Hodges, both of whom were 2006 All-Americans.
Salerno has confidence in his current team and knows that the new freshmen will quickly gain experience and start making an impact.
“”Our women’s team is going to at least be as good as last year’s,”” Salerno said. “”We have some really good recruits on the team who are really going to help us out.””
The men’s team will look to Noel’s veteran leadership to lead a large group of underclassmen. Highlighting the rookie Tritons are Hooper, a junior college transfer, and freshman jumper Chris Yu, a high school state finalist in the long jump.
The young but talented Tritons are in position to compete for a conference championship this year. Noel, who Salerno calls the “”ultimate captain,”” has high expectations for himself and the team he plans on leading.
“”Both our men and women’s teams are very strong and capable,”” Noel said. “”As long as we make sure to stay healthy and continue to compete all year long, we should all be able to win conference championships.””
The next test for both the men and women will be the All-Cal Championships held at UC Irvine on March 3. In the meet, the Tritons will square off against UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and UC Davis.
The women placed second overall at last year’s All-Cal meet, and this year’s team has the best chance to win the competition for the first time, according to Salerno. Noel agrees with his coach’s hopes and expressed his confidence in winning the meet.
“”It’s not like we’re facing [UC] Berkeley or UCLA,”” Noel said. “”Yeah, these schools are D-I, but that’s the beauty of track and field. You can look beyond divisions and on any given day it can be anyone’s race. We know that if we come and compete, we’re not going to get looked down on for being a D-II school.””
