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Strong Showing For UCSD Track in Early Season Meet

TRACK & FIELD — The women’s team won ten events while the men’s team took six events, and the UCSD track and field teams swept the San Diego Collegiate Challenge on their home track on Saturday. This was the fourth straight year that UCSD won both the men’s and women’s competitions, with the meet was previously called the San Diego City Collegiate Championships. This year’s meet included San Diego area community colleges for the first time.

“There was enough competition out there to be challenged, but certainly it was a great confidence builder,” women’s coach Darcy Ahner said. “In some ways it was a low-key meet, but they went out there with a fire and just performed. It was really nice to see.”

Senior Kelly Fogarty provided the highlight of the day with a blistering 23.79 time in the 200-meter dash. The mark broke her own school record of 23.96, and is an NCAA automatic qualifier. Fogarty also handily won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.82, an NCAA provisional qualifying time.

Senior Stephanie LeFever also had a huge day, helping the 4×100 team to victory and winning three individual events. LeFever won and set personal bests in the 100-meter hurdles (14.18) and high jump (5’7.25”), and took long jump (18’10.5”) as well. The mark for the 100-meter hurdles is a provisional qualifer.

“[LeFever’s] time in the hurdles is excellent, 14.18 is a very, very good 100-meter hurdle time,” Ahner said. “She looks really great, she just had a dynamite day.”

Coming off a massive 193’4” throw last week at the Rossi Relays, senior Danielle Thu once again won the hammer throw. This week she competed with a heavier training hammer, but still won by over 20 feet with a throw of 173’8”. Thu was also second in the discus, while sophomore teammate Uchenna Agbahiwe placed third, and both threw provisional qualifying marks. Agbahiwe’s mark is 10th all-time at UCSD.

Junior Caitlin Meagher won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.74, good for an provisional qualifying mark.

Senior Theresa Richards took the javelin throw for the second consecutive week with a mark of 128’8”.

The Triton men also excelled in the throwing events, taking victories in three of the four events. Sophomore Ryan Eckert took the shotput (48’8.75”) and sophomore Zachary Nagengast won the discus (149’9”). Junior Ab Shaheen, who is the Lebanese national record holder in the hammer throw, easily won the event with a toss of 180’1”, good for sixth best all-time at UCSD. The Tritons couldn’t take the javelin, although the defending national champion in the event — junior Nick Howe — only competed in high jump for the Tritons on the day.

Junior Roger Huang placed first in the 800 with a time of 1:58.55, while junior Ka Wai Ng won the triple jump with a mark of 46’8”.

The Tritons also won both 4×400 relays, with a time of 3:26.00 for the men and 3:53.27 for the women.

In total, the Tritons had nine updates to the all-time top 10 lists for the meet.

“I, of course, know they are capable of so much,” Ahner said. “But it was a little bit surprising to have all the provisional qualifiers, the nine updates on the top-10 lists, and the school record, all in an early season meet. I’m really excited about how they’re competing. I really feel there is a lot of energy on the team.”

The Tritons will travel to Irvine next Saturday for the All-Cal Championships. The distance runners will compete in the Occidental Distance Carnival on Friday.

Readers can contact Liam Rose at [email protected].


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