With less than a month left in the outdoor season, UC San Diego track and field pursued personal records at the 33rd Triton Invitational on Friday and Saturday. In just their second year of postseason eligibility, Triton athletes competed at the Triton Track and Field Stadium in search of Big West qualifying times and spots in the national championship.
Graduate student Sylvana Northrop and junior Tamara Aimufia, both of whom represented UCSD in its first year of eligibility at the NCAA championships last year, dominated the meet. This year, the pair netted personal records at the Triton Invitational in pursuit of return tickets to the first round of the NCAA outdoor track and field championships.
Northrop came into the meet hoping to knock off two seconds from her personal record and break 16 minutes in her signature event, the 5000 meter, on Friday evening. She gapped the rest of the field by more than a minute, running 16:15.69 in a stadium record.
Though not a personal best, Northrop’s performance puts her atop the Big West. With a time that places her squarely within the postseason qualifying mark, she’s aiming to place in the top 48 athletes in the West Region in order to qualify for the NCAA Championships in her last collegiate season.
Aimufia, for her part, opened the meet with a second-place finish in the long jump on Friday. She also took second in the triple jump on Saturday with a personal record of 12.48 meters. With Big West-qualifying marks in both events, Aimufia will look to defend her title as Big West champion in the long jump next month.
“Winning Big West — I wasn’t even expecting to, so having that under my belt is already a nice accomplishment,” Aimufia said. “I’m not putting too much pressure on myself to, you know, try to do anything crazy. I just want to enjoy this year, you know, have fun, stay healthy. But I would love to make it a repeat of Big West champ.”
With the stadium record in hand, Northrop returned to the track on Saturday to double in the women’s 1500 meter. High school senior and Harvard commit Aelo Curtis, seeded first for the women’s 1500 meter, proved to be Northrop’s toughest competition. Curtis won when the two saw each other last weekend at the Bob Larsen and Jim Bush Legends Invitational, when Northrop ran a personal best and school record in the 1500 meter.
In Saturday’s rematch, Northrop took it out fast, leading the race until the last curve. With just over 200 meters left, Curtis surged past her. The pair battled it out down the stretch, but Curtis stayed ahead through the line. Just behind her, Northrop ran a personal-best time of 4:20.69 — good for first in the Big West and a school record for the second straight week.
“She got me last week,” Northrop said in a post-race interview with The UCSD Guardian. “I was like, ‘Maybe this week, I can get her,’ but … she’s got a crazy kick. So, yeah, she’s good.”
UCSD also dominated the high jump; sophomore Makena Bailey tied for first in the women’s event with a mark of 1.73 meters, while graduate student Miles Bennett and freshman Porter Gibbs finished 1-2 in the men’s high jump. UCSD rounded out the jump events with third-place finishes in both the men’s long and triple jump. In the throws, senior Bryan Chang placed third in the men’s shot put.
The Tritons closed out the home meet with podium finishes in the men’s 200 meter and women’s 3000 meter steeplechase. Freshman Antrell Harris secured personal bests and Big West qualifying times in both the 200 meter and 400 meter, while senior Emma Dunmire placed second in the steeplechase with a personal record and Big West-qualifying time of 10:33.05.
“PRs are always good, but always our main focus is Big West Championships,” head coach Kim Graham-Miller said. “We’re always gearing to being at our very best during that time. So, I think this time of the season is really like our turning point a little bit. We’re trying to fix little things that we need to fix, moving for the second half of the season.”
The Big West Championships, which will take place in Long Beach on May 15 and May 16, will be the team’s last chance to qualify for the NCAA West First Round in Arkansas at the end of May.
At last year’s NCAA West Regionals meet, Aimufia placed 41st with a jump of 5.82 meters; Northrop ran the 5000 meter in 17:12.80 to take 45th.
“After the race, I was talking to one of my competitors, and she was like, ‘What school are you?’” Northrop said. “I’m like, ‘UCSD.’ She said, ‘I have never heard of you.’ And I just, with so much pride, I was like, ‘It’s our first year here.’ And it was such, like a wonderful moment. … I’m so proud to be, like, leading the team into an era where we make it into postseason and where we really believe that we can be competing.”
Jordan Mationg also contributed to this story.
