Jan. 31, 2009
Complete Results
SEATTLE, Wash. - Jonathan Peterson went 8 minutes, 16.99 seconds to break the UC Davis school record in the indoor 3,000-meter run while Kaitlin Gregg and Lorin Scott solidified the Nos. 2 and 3 spots, respectively, on the women's 3,000 chart as the Aggies performed well at the University of Washington Indoor Track and Field Invitational at Dempsey Indoor on Saturday.
The trio led several standout performances for the Aggies who participated in their season-opener at the large meet which attracted some of the top teams in the country. The UC Davis women had five other marks impact their all-time leaders list while the men posted two.
"We're really pleased, especially with it being our first meet," said women's coach Deanne Vochatzer.
Peterson led the way for the Aggies, taking third in his heat of the 3,000 which was won by Nathan Ogden of BYU in 8:13.35. Peterson, who barely finished behind runner-up Marco Anzures of UCLA, beat the previous school record of 8:31.40 by nearly 15 seconds. That mark was set by former standout Chris Ferren-Cirino in 2007.
Gregg and Scott posted impressive times themselves in their heats of the 3,000. Gregg, who was in the same race at U.S. Olympic steeplechaser Jenny Barringer, vaulted to No. 2 on the Aggies' career list with her time of 9:32.87, less than two seconds off the school mark of 9:30.77 established by Kim Conley last season. Scott sliced 10 seconds off her previous best, winning her heat in 9:46.13 while edging three runners - including two from Long Beach State - that finished within two seconds of her.
Chid Onyewuenyi improved her No. 2 position on the weight throw chart at UC Davis, besting her previous-best by almost two feet when she took fourth in her heat on Saturday with a mark of 56- feet, 1.75 inches. Sophomore Ashley Hearn debuted at No. 3 with her mark of 55-2.75 which won her flight by nearly six feet.
Jenna Gailey was fourth in her section of the 800, finishing in 2:14.11 for the program's No. 4 all-time position while Kayla Green is No. 5 in the triple jump after going 37-8. Nicole Theus strengthened her No. 3 spot in the 200 with her time of 25.74 on Saturday.
On the men's side, Jazz Trice and Polly Gnepa both earned spots in the 60-meter hurdles finals at the UW Indoor, going 8.09 and 8.15, respectively, to each win their preliminary races. Trice, whose career-best mark entering the day was 8.24, went 8.04 in the final to place third while Gnepa - the school-record holder - was fourth in 8.10.
Matt Swarbrick, who was second in his flight of the shot put with a mark of 50-8.75, improved his No. 5 spot on that one. Andre Gaston narrowly missed moving into the top five in the 800, finishing in 1:57.38 on Saturday, just .07 off the list.
UC Davis, in its second NCAA Division I season, returns to the Pacific Northwest in two weeks for the Husky Classic, also hosted by Washington.
