May 14, 2010

Results

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The UC Davis women - highlighted by a school-record in the 100-meter hurdles from senior Sirena Williams - are in third place after the first day of the Big West Conference Track and Field Championships at Cal State Northridge, while the Aggie men are in sixth place.

Six events - including four in the field - had finals during Friday's competition with scores added to results from the multi-event championships conducted last week. The host Matadors hold leads on both the men's and women's side. The Aggie women have tallied 39 points so far while the men have picked up 13.

Most track events held prelims on Friday with the women advancing 10 through to finals including four in the 100 hurdles. The men pushed six into Saturday's finals including two athletes - Polly Gnepa in the 110 high hurdles and Thomas Phillips in the 400 - who had their events' best times.

Williams, who set the school record in the 100 hurdles last year at 13.50 seconds and has gone as fast as 13.52 this year, lowered it further during Friday's prelims, crossing in 13.49. It was the fastest time by .21 of a second and topped a standout day for Aggie hurdlers.

UC Davis will occupy four of the nine lanes in Saturday's final with Chelsea Azevedo (14.45), Suzanne Howard (14.50) and Kayla Carter (14.51) each posting career-best times to also alter the program's all-time list. Azevedo jumped from a tie for fifth into fourth place, Howard is now tied for fifth after making her debut on the ledger and Carter is in eighth place by herself. Ofunne Okwudiafor, who did not qualify, also had a personal-best though, finishing in 14.72.

Other Aggie qualifiers include Melanise Chapman (12.08) and Mina Mohamadi (12.13) in the 100, Kiara Reed (2:10.72) and Lauren Wallace (2:12.86) in the 800, and Abigail Gallaher (4:38.99) in the 1,500. Shanie Landen moved on in the 400 with a time of 55.88, placing her 10th all-time at UC Davis.

UC Davis, which entered the meet with five points thanks to Anikia Jackson's fourth-place in the heptathlon last week, added 34 points on Friday. Jackson accounted for four of them with her sixth-place in the javelin and her eighth in the long jump.

The Aggies' best points total came in the 10,000 where Sarah Sumpter was third in 35:21.12 for six points, Krista Drechsler took fifth for four more, and Kaitlin Gregg was sixth, adding three. Caitlin Fitzgerald just missed a PR in the steeplechase (10:40:82) but was third for six points while Samantha Kearney was seventh for two.

Other scoring from Lauren Radke who tallied five points by finishing fourth in the pole vault, and by Brittany Bickel who went 137 feet, 9 inches in the javelin for fifth place and an improvement on her No. 6 all-time position at UC Davis.

The Aggie men scored 13 points over four events, including seven in the javelin where Brock Bennett (179-3) was fourth and Matthew Roberts (171-7) took seventh. Russell Pfaff, defending Big West champion in the steeplechase, was sixth this year, adding three points for UC Davis. Ed Orgon took seventh in the hammer throw while Ray Green was eighth in the long jump, combining for three points.

Gnepa and Phillips led Aggies who advanced through prelims on Friday. Gnepa, already No. 2 all-time in the high hurdles at 13.87 seconds, improved on that mark with his time of 13.79 which was well ahead of second-place Nimrod Piggee of Long Beach State (14.18). Phillips, school-record holder in the 400 at 47.05, had the day's best time in that event, finishing in a season-best 47.28.

Jonathan Sees had a busy day in the middle-distance races, qualifying in both the 800 and 1,500. He had the fourth-fastest time in the 800 (1:52.16) and was fourth-best in the 1,500 prelims as well (3:51.78). Jonathan Peterson (3:53.20) also moved in the 1,500 and Nolan Frazier advanced in the 400 hurdles (53.43), rounding out UC Davis' qualifiers.

Chapman didn't qualify in the 200 but the Aggie freshman's time of 24.81 in the event moved her up a spot into a tie for fifth all-time at UC Davis while Hannah Royal's mark of 155-2 in the hammer throw improved on her No. 10 position.

Saturday's competition in field events starts at noon while events on the track - all finals - begin at 3 p.m.

BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
Northridge, Calif. (Cal State Northridge)
Day 1 of 2
UC Davis results only
Finals unless noted

WOMEN
TEAM (7 events) - 1. Cal State Northridge, 79; 2, UC Santa Barbara, 65; 3. UC Davis, 39; 4. Cal State Fullerton, 31; 5. Long Beach State, 27; 6. Cal Poly (16); 7. UC Riverside (14); 8. UC Irvine (2).
100 (prelims) - 1. Precious Watkins, Cal State Northridge, 11.75... 6. Melanise Chapman, 12.08; 8. Mina Mohamadi, 12.13.
200 (prelims) - 1. Ciara Short, Cal State Fullerton, 23.70... 10. Melanise Chapman, 24.81.
400 (prelims) - 1. Ciara Short, Cal State Fullerton, 54.10... 4. Shanie Landen, 55.88
800 (prelims) - 1. Brenda Martinez, UC Riverside, 2:08.51... 3. Kiara Reed, 2:10.72; 7. Lauren Wallace, 2:12.86.
1500 (prelims) - 1. Brenda Martinez, UC Riverside, 4:24.04... 7. Abigail Gallaher, 4:38.99; 14. Caitlin Fitzgerald, 4:52.83.
10,000 - 1. Daniel Domenichelli, UC Santa Barbara, 34:50.29... 3. Sarah Sumpter, 35:21.12; 5. Krista Drechsler, 36:02.44; 6. Kaitlin Gregg, 36:12.02
100H (prelims)- 1. Sirena Williams, UC Davis, 13.49... 7. Chelsea Azevedo, 14.45; 8. Suzanne Howard, 14.50; 9. Kayla Carter, 14.51; 12. Anikia Jackson, 14.66; 13. Ofunne Okwudiafor, 14.72.
400H (prelims) - 1. Barbara Nwaba, UC Santa Barbara, 1:10.23... 12. Libby Davis, 66.20.
Steeplechase - 1. Carolyn Ellis, CS Fullerton, 10:30.36... 3. Caitlin Fitzgerald, 10:40.82; 7. Samantha Kearney, 11:01.19; Alison Stoakley, DNF.
LJ - 1. Shelese Ruffin, Cal State Northridge, 6.12 (20-1.00)... 8. Anikia Jackson, 5.71 (18-9.00); 10. Stephanie Eckels, 5.60 (18-4.50); 13. Sirena Williams, 5.36 (17-7.00); 14. Kayla Green, 5.35 (17-6.75).
PV - 1. Tianna Webberley, Cal State Northridge, 3.78 (12-04.75)... 4. Lauren Radke, 3.63 (11-10.75); T13. Tessa Fraser, 3.48 (11-5.00).
JT - 1. Randi Hicks, Long Beach State, 49.47 (162-4)... 5. Brittany Bickel, 41.86 (137-4); 6. Anikia Jackson, 40.88 (134-1).
HT - 1. Morgan Bogard, Cal State Northridge, 57.77 (189-06)... 9. Hannah Royall, 47.30 (155-02); 11. Ashley Hearn, 46.21 (151-07).

MEN
TEAM (7 events) - 1. Cal State Northridge, 67; 2. Cal Poly, 62; 3. UC Santa Barbara, 56.5; 4. Long Beach State, 42; 5. Cal State Fullerton, 21.5; 6. UC Davis, 13; 7. UC Riverside, 11; 8. UC Irvine, 0.
100 (prelims) - 1. Bradley Ike, Cal State Northridge, 10.42... 18. Robert Neely, 11.19; 19. Kaio Sena, 12.04; Josh Fuchs, DNF.
400 (prelims) - 1. Thomas Phillips, UC Davis, 47.28.
800 (prelims) - 1. Tim Murphy, UC Irvine, 1:49.68... 4. Jonathan Sees, 1:52.16; 12. Ben Johnson, 1:53.65.
110HH (prelims) - 1. Polly Gnepa, UC Davis, 13.79... 10. Nolan Frazier, 14.89.
400H (prelims) - 1. Sam Jeter, Long Beach State, 51.30... 8. Nolan Frazier 53.43; 13. Jeffery Campbell, 53.89.
1500 (prelims) - 1. Scott Smith, UC Santa Barbara, 3:49.70... 4. Jonathan Sees, 3:51.78; 8. Jonathan Peterson, 3:53.20.
10,000 - 1. Joe Gatel, Cal Poly, 30:59.10... 10. Ben DeLand, 32:16.74.
Steeplechase - 1. Julian DeRubira, UC Santa Barbara, 8:52.57... 6. Russsell Pfaff, 9:14.08; 11. Kyle Suarez, 9:43.75.
LJ - 1. Reindell Cole, Cal State Northridge, 7.53 (24-8.50)... 8. Ray Green, 6.96 (22-10.0); 9. Will Guthrie, 6.94 (22-9.25); 12. Robert Neely, 6.88 (22-7.0).
HJ - 1. Lance Gonzales, Cal State Northridge, 2.09 (6-10.25)... Ross Tate, NH.
JT - 1. Michael Guerrra. UC Santa Barbara, 62.40 (204-9)... 4. Brock Bennett, 54.65 (179-3); 7. Matthew Roberts, 52.30 (171-7); 9. Will Guthrie, 51.20 (168-00).
HT - 1. Alex Butler, Cal State Northridge, 58.28 (191-02)... 7. Ed Orgon, 50.56 (165-10) 16. Jake Fuller, 43.07 (141-03).