TRACK ‘amp; FIELD ‘mdash; Neither 500 miles on the road nor two days of constant rain could slow the UCSD women’s track team last weekend.
At the California Collegiate Athletic Association Track and Field Championships in Chico, Calif., the Tritons held off Cal State Los Angeles to capture their fifth straight conference crown.
The men’s team also performed strongly, finishing second to Chico State University, which won its sixth consecutive title.
‘The conditions were as bad as I’ve seen in my 31 years of coaching,’ head coach Tony Salerno said. ‘We’re stunned really that an entire team can come together that well.’
On May 1, the first day of competition, All-American junior Linda Rainwater repeated as the heptathlon champion, breaking her own school record by recording 5,102 points.
Sophomore Stephanie LeFever came in second in the heptathlon with a personal record of 5,004 points, and placed second in the long jump.
The UCSD women performed equally well while on the field. Senior Sarah Hendy and junior Danielle Thu took wins in the discus and hammer throw, respectively, and junior Marie Archer finished second in the hammer throw.
Junior Fred Cook placed third in the men’s discus and hammer throw.
On the second day, sophomore Kelly Fogarty broke her own school record and took the gold in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.88 seconds. Fogarty also placed second in the 200-meter dash.
Senior Laiah Blue broke her own school record as well, winning the 100-meter hurdles in 13.64 seconds.
One of the most impressive performances came from junior Christine Merrill, who was named the women’s MVP for the meet. Aside from winning the 400-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles, Merrill placed third in the 100-meter hurdles and ran on the 4×100-meter relay team, which came in first.
‘It seemed like she was constantly warming up or cooling down from something,’ Salerno said. ‘We thought she had an exceptional meet.’
‘ Freshman Nick Howe earned CCAA Freshman of the Year honors after winning the javelin throw by over 20 feet. Senior Scott Tsuda won the triple jump and junior Casey Ryan took the high jump.
‘We don’t think there are too many things that we could have done better as far as how we executed,’ Salerno said. ‘We put our people against some of the best in Division I and even some elite athletes, and being able to do that through the year really showed.”
Overall, the women’s team won with a score of 247.5 points, well above Cal State Los Angeles’ second-place 164 points.
The men’s team finished with 164 points, second only to Chico State’s 257 points.
‘I don’t get surprised very often as a coach,’ said Darcy Ahner, who captured her second straight CCAA Track and Field Women’s Coach of the Year award. ‘But with the conditions and the rain they stepped up to a level that was really phenomenal.’
Both teams will compete again on May 9 at the Occidental Invitational, a warmup for nationals.
Readers can contact Liam Rose at [email protected].