TRACK & FIELD — The UCSD track and field team got its 2011 season off to a strong start on Saturday, winning seven events at the 15th annual Rossi Relays hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The early-season meet featured mostly Division-III schools, as well as some of the USC team. In a cold weekend for Southern California, the meet also featured a small amount of snowfall.

“It was really great to get started,” men’s head coach Tony Salerno said. “I think some of the marks were down just because of the cold, but we still had some good stuff.”

The day’s biggest performance was undoubtedly from redshirt senior Danielle Thu, who won the hammer throw with a mark of 193’4”. It was Thu’s first appearance since winning the national title in the event in the 2009 season, and the throw was enough for a NCAA automatic qualifying mark.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by anything she does anymore,” Salerno said. “Coming back and throwing that far in her first meet back is pretty amazing.”

UCSD had a good day in the field events, with victories by Stephanie LeFever and Theresa Richards. LeFever finished first in the long jump with a leap of 19’ — a provisional qualifying mark — and placed second in the 100-meter hurdles. Richards won the javelin throw with a mark of 129’9”, over five feet better than sophomore Jessica Miklaski’s second-place throw of 123’8”.

Senior Kelly Fogarty — the defending conference champion in the 100-meter dash — blew away the competition with a time of 12.00 seconds. Her time was good for an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Teammate Kathleen Hitchens was second in the event with a time of 12.77 seconds.

UCSD won the 4×100-meter relay with a time of 47.73 seconds, as well as the 1600-meter medley in 4:11.12.

On the men’s side, senior Jesse Morrill took first in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:41.49. Alex Corliss came in third in the event with a time of 8:52.33.

“It’s an odd regulation distance for NCAA, but it’s good to see him out there and winning,” Salerno said. “If I had to highlight one of the guys, it would definitely be Jesse.”

The Tritons will return home to host the San Diego Collegiate Challenge on Saturday, March 5. Field events begin at noon, while running events will start at 1:05 p.m.

Readers can contact Liam Rose at [email protected].