Finishing finals didn’t help the members of the UCSD track and field team as they took their hardest test of the year at the Cal-Nevada Championship Meet. The race, hosted by Fresno State, featured 21 teams, most of which compete at the Division I level. The Tritons would not be satisfied with merely showing up to the race, but wanted to prove that athletic talent could transcend division lines.
The men’s track team pulled ahead of the competition at the start of the 1,500-meter race in the final round of the prestigious Cal-Nevada Championship Meet on March 31.
This meet proved to be one of the top performances in the history of UCSD track and field, with the women finishing sixth overall and the men coming in 12th.
The meet consisted of such powerhouse schools as UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State University. Even though the meet was filled with challenging opponents, head coach Tony Salerno downplayed the competition.
“”We only have two D-II meets on the schedule this year, so we’re used to going up against Division I schools,”” Salerno said. “”We really think that these types of meets are comparable to the level of competition that we’ll see at nationals, so we expect to do well at them.””
The women came up just short of finishing in the top five, falling four points behind Cal State Fullerton.
Highlighting the impressive teamwide performance was junior hurdler Laiah Blue, whose first-place finishes in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles earned her the Track Athlete of the Meet honor, which is awarded by coaches from all of the participating schools. The decision was unanimous. Her winning time of 13.87 seconds in the 100 hurdles set a new school record and is currently the fastest time in the nation.
Along with Blue, junior jumper Whitney Johnson’s long jump distance of 19 feet, 0.75 inches earned her a third-place finish and another all-time UCSD school record. Setting the tone for the upcoming national championships, freshman hurdler Christine Merill and junior hurdler Corey Sheredy’s race times qualified them for nationals in the 400 hurdle race.
Another national qualifier was senior thrower Torrey Trust with her throw of 139 feet, 2 inches in the javelin. Doing so well against such tough teams was a thrill for Trust.
“”It was exciting placing against the D-Is,”” Trust said. “”When we got there at the beginning, I didn’t realize just how tough it was going to be, but when I saw all the other marks, I realized that javelin was going to be really hard. I’m just really glad that I was able to step it up.””
The men held their own throughout the weekend and muscled their way to a well-deserved finish. Accenting the men’s weekend was sophomore runner Daniel Anderson, whose fourth-place finish in the 800-meter dash, with a time of 1:51.60, is another NCAA-qualifying mark.
Freshman jumper Casey Ryan and junior jumper Roger Francis both placed high enough to score points for UCSD in the high jump, as did junior hurdler Khalil Hooper in the 100 hurdles.
The promising performance by the men’s team will only continue to improve, according to Salerno, who views the team’s youth as a strong point as opposed to a weakness.
“”Our men are a very talented but young team,”” Salerno said. “”We have some of the top guys in California coming out of high school last year, and a lot of our guys should place in the top three in the conference.””
Next up, the Tritons will return to their home field to host the UCSD Quadrangular on April 7, which will provide another good warmup for conference finals and the national championship.
“”Last year we finished second in conference, and this year we should do at least the same, and keep growing in the future,”” Salerno said.
