March 10, 2007
Complete Results
DAVIS, Calif. - Freshman Alex Wilright posted the fastest 400-meter hurdle time for UC Davis since 1987 on Saturday when he won the event at the Aggie Open in 51.99 seconds, leading a strong day for UC Davis in which the women's team captured five events and the men's team three.
Wilright, a true freshman from Elk Grove, moved into the No. 2 spot on the Aggies' all-time list behind Jon Devine who set the school record of 51.66 in 1987. Wilright made his outdoor track debut last week at the Stanford Quadrangular with a time of 52.85 which vaulted him to No. 7 on the career list. He moved into the second position on Saturday, just in front of Andrew White whose time of 52.30 had stood at No. 2 since 1997.
Wilright was one of three Aggie men to capture wins on Saturday, a trio that also included Chris Ferren-Cirino in the 5,000 (14:36.80) and Chris Chisam in the javelin (199-8). UC Davis posted five wins in the women's competition, scoring victories from Nicole Theus in the 100 (12.17), Seante Baker in the 400 (57.91), Jackie Turpin in the javelin (142-10) and both the 4x100 (46.70) and 4x400 (3:56.83 relays).
Turpin, who is in just her second season of javelin competition, is now No. 4 on the all-time list after improving her personal-best by more than 12 feet. The former Aggie women's basketball player had one of five marks on Saturday that affected the women's all-time list. Chidinma Onyewuenyi moved to No. 7 on the shot put list after placing second at 42-feet and Kim Conley is now No. 8 on the 1,500 chart after finishing second in 4:31.97. Judy Sheldon solidified her No. 9 position in the hammer throw after surpassing her career-best by 13 inches when she took third in 151-04. Addtionally, Tiffany Knox finished third in the steeplechase in 11:49.87, making her No. 7 in that event for UC Davis.
Aggie women's coach Deanne Vochatzer was pleased with her team's efforts, especially coming off last week's meet when the performances were very strong for the first meet of the season.
"We were fired up for the quad meet at Stanford," she said. "We were pretty close in a lot of events today. People ran similar kinds of times. I think overall for us to break out and then hold that level (is great). Now we'll kind of go underground and hopefully come out smoking and get ready for Cal-Nevada and then our homestand and then the (Div. I) Independent Championships."
Ferren-Cirino, who captured the Division I Independent Cross Country individual title in the fall, led a 1-2-3 finish for the Aggies in the 5,000 on Saturday, crossing in 14:36.80 and winning by nearly 20 seconds. Teammate Patrick Parsel (14:55.51) was second, followed by Jorge Murrillo (14:55.78) in third.
Chisam beat out 27 other javelin competitors, winning with a mark of 199-08 for UC Davis' final win on the men's side.
Jah Benett, whose mark of 6-9.50 in the high jump last weekend at Stanford moved him into a three-way tie for ninth on the all-time list, grabbed the spot for himself after taking second at the Aggie Open with a mark of 6-9.75.
"Overall, I think our team did really, really well," said men's coach Jon Vochatzer. "I'm very proud of them. I'm watching them develop, I'm watching them get better each weekend. Everytime they step up to the plate they improve. It's very exciting to watch."
More than 700 collegiate and open competitors participated in the meet. UC Davis had several high finishes in the meet besides the event wins. The men had three runner-up finishes, three that took third and five that were fourth while the women had four runner-up showings, a half-dozen third-place finishes and four that were fourth.
UC Davis will take a break for final exams before resuming competition on March 23 and 24 at the Arizona State Invitational and March 24 at the Hornet Invitational at Sacramento State.
