TRACK & FIELD — The UCSD track and field team took part in three meets on either side of finals week, earning several outstanding performances against top-notch competition.
On March 12, the Tritons competed in the All-Cal Challenge Cup hosted by UC Irvine, with UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside also taking part. The Tritons finished second on both the men’s and women’s side, with the men getting one of their best performances ever in the annual competition.
On the women’s side, senior Kelly Fogarty had another big day with victories in both the 100- and 200-meter dash. Her times of 11.77 and 23.98 were close to her school-record personal bests of 11.74 and 23.79, and are likely good enough to qualify her for the national meet at the end of the season.
Fellow senior Stephanie LeFever also picked up a pair of wins, taking the long jump and the high jump with marks of 19’0.75” and 5’5”, respectively. LeFever’s mark in the long jump is a NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
Senior Theresa Richards also produced a provisional qualifier as she threw 145’7” in the javelin to easily win the event.
Overall, the Triton women finished with 171 points, falling only to UC Santa Barbara’s 193.5 points.
On the men’s side, defending national champion Nick Howe threw 202’6” to blow away the field in the javelin throw and earn a provisional qualifying mark. Sophomore Shaun Tu won his first event as a Triton with a jump of 22’5” in the long jump.
The Tritons finished with 155.5 points, taking second place, but well back of UCSB’s 220.5 points.
On March 19, the UCSD squad split to go to two meets, with top athletes competing at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational and a handful of athletes at the Point Loma Spring Break Open. In total, only about one-third of the team was in action, but the Tritons still produced several highlights.
The Aztec Invite featured Texas A&M — the defending Division I champion in both men’s and women’s track and field — as well as several D-I schools including Wisconsin, Kansas State and UCLA. Despite the strong field, Fogarty emerged as the winner in the 200-meter dash with a school record time of 23.74, narrowly beating out Lawreta Ozah of San Diego State.
Junior Caitlin Meagher recorded a provisional qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing fifth with a time of 101:92 — good for fourth-best in school history.
Senior Jesse Morrill also notched a provisional qualifier, as he recorded the second-fastest time in school history with a 9:12.17 in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Morrill placed second in the event.
Howe placed fifth in the javelin throw, improving to 204’1” after his throw the week before.
At the Point Loma meet, UCSD showed well in the jumps, with victories by Tu and Ka Wai Ng in the long jump and triple jump, respectively. Ng’s mark of 47’5.25” is good for third-best in school history.
The Tritons competed in the Cal/Nevada Collegiate Championships on March 26-27. Look for complete coverage in Thursday’s issue of The Guardian.
Readers can contact Liam Rose at [email protected].
