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<p>TRACK ‘amp; FIELD ‘mdash; Competing between two of the highest profile events of its season, the UCSD track and field team took a brief trip to North San Diego County last weekend to compete in the inaugural Mangrum Invitational at Cal State San Marcos. The low-key meet was non-scoring, which gave the Tritons a chance to prepare for larger events ahead, including the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational at UCLA on April 9. </p>
<p> ‘Whenever we’re in uniform, we’re going to compete,’ men’s coach Tony Salerno said. ‘But when there are points on the line, we are inclined to cover every event and move people around. This was a nice event to set us up for events coming up in the next few weeks.’</p>
<p> Without the pressure to perform at their best, many of the athletes competed in fewer events or ran distances different than normal. Nevertheless, junior Casey Ryan once again surpassed his own school record in the high jump and reached the mark of seven feet, an exceptional feat for a jumper at any level. Senior Sarah Hendy also stood out in the field events, tying her personal best of 158’4′ in the discus throw. </p>
<p> UCSD’s success against local opponents comes on the heels of a strong showing last week at the Cal/Nevada Collegiate Championships at UCLA. The men finished 12th and the women’s team placed fifth against a field that included several formidable Division-I programs. </p>
<p> The Tritons were led by several outstanding performances that ranked among the best in program history. </p>
<p> On the men’s side, senior Scott Tsuda took second place in the triple jump, topping his own personal best and setting another school record with a mark of 48′ 10.75′. The 4×400 meter relay team ‘mdash; comprised of senior Bryan Dieffenbach, juniors Leon Baham and Wil Dyer and freshman Tobias Haswell ‘mdash; posted the eighth fastest time in school history, taking 11th place. Freshman Nick Howe threw 180’6’ in the javelin, also qualifying for eighth best all-time. </p>
<p> The women were led by junior Christine Merrill, who finished second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.86, capturing both the school record and an NCAA automatic qualifying mark. The Triton women also had two third-place finishes from a pair of sophomores ‘mdash; Bre Schofield in the 1,500 meters and Stephanie LeFever in the long jump. LeFever’s mark of 18’10.75’ ranks second in school history. </p>
<p> Coming off the team’s impressive performance at UCLA, Salerno emphasized the benefits of competing in large invitationals.</p>
<p> ‘We really thrive on it,’ he said. ‘I think there was a time when it might have been intimidating, but I don’t think that’s the case now. We got some solid results from the team standpoint and came out ahead of some good, full-scholarship programs.’ </p>
<p> The Tritons return to UCLA on April 9 to compete in the three-day Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational. The Tritons will then compete in two more meets on the road before returning home for the UCSD Triton Invitational on April 24 and 25. The home meet will be the team’s final competition before the CCAA Championships at the end of the month.</p>
<p> Readers can contact Liam Rose at lfrose@ucsd.edu.</p>
<p>” />#1.1645118:2268473877.jpg:040609track2:In the Cal/Nevada Collegiate Championships at UCLA, the Triton men placed 12th out of 22 teams while the women</p>
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