May 15, 2010

Complete Results

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -- UC Davis track and field athletes claimed four individual championships on Saturday afternoon at Cal State Northridge as the Aggie women finished a program-best third and the men fifth at the Big West Championships.

Ashley Hearn set a school record in winning the discus with a throw of 173 feet, 5 inches, helping lead the Aggie women score 113 points. The UC Davis men - buoyed by titles from Polly Gnepa in the 110-meter high hurdles, Ray Green in the triple jump and a second straight banner from Thomas Phillips in the 400 - talled 91 points.

Cal State Northridge won both the men's (173 points) and women's (193 points) titles.

"We had some kids get some good things done," said women's coach Deanne Vochatzer whose team was fifth last year.

UC Davis scored 73 points in nine women's events on Saturday, highlighted by Hearn's win and second-place finishes from Sirena Williams in the 100 hurdles, Lauren Wallace in the 800, Kaitlin Gregg in the 5,000, and the 4x400 relay squad of Shanie Landen, Wallace, Stephanie Eckels and Kiara Reed.

The men picked up 78 points during the second day of competition, 30 of them coming from the trio of Big West individual championships, eight points from freshman Michael Peterson who was second in the pole vault, and third-places from Igor Seriba in the triple jump and Jonathan Peterson in the 1,500.

"I'm very excited we got fifth place," said men's coach Jon Vochatzer whose team was missing several athletes due to injuries. "We really did well across the board. I'm really proud of the team."

Hearn helped highlight the women's third-place showing with her school-record performance in the discus. The Aggie junior smashed her previous-best of 166-8 - set earlier this season - while vaulting past Sara Oesch (167-1, 1999) and Kim Gleeson (171-7, 2003) into the top spot.

Williams, who lowered her own school record while posting the day's top time of 13.49 during Friday's prelims, was engaged in a hot race with defending league champion Lauren Williams of Cal State Fullerton during Saturday's final. Lauren Williams won in 13.41 seconds but Sirena Williams was right there with her, crossing just behind in a school-record 13.43.

UC Davis had four athletes in the hurdles final, scoring 11 points in that event alone.

Wallace's second-place performance in the 800 also came with a career-best time as she finished in 2:08.11, improving her No. 2 spot at UC Davis. The 4x400 relay also had a strong time with its runner-up time of 3:42.58, making it the third-fastest quartet in program history.

Landen, who was fourth in the 400, also posted a career-best time in the event for the second straight day, finishing in 55.72, improving her No. 5 all-time placing.

Other Aggie career chart impacts came from Stephanie Eckels (39-9.25, No. 5 improvement) and Kayla Green (38-11, No. 7 improvement) in the triple jump, Hannah Royall (41-8, No. 10) in the shot put, and the 4x100 relay (46.37, No. 3 improvement) of Eckels, Melanise Chapman, Landen and Mina Mohamadi.

The UC Davis men filled its scoring plate with high finishes, including its three titles. Gnepa, a senior from Turlock, capped his conference career with a first-place in the high hurdles. He had the prelim's fastest time a career-best time of 13.79 seconds and was nearly as strong on Saturday, winning in 13.87, tying his second-fastest time ever. He is ranked second all-time at UC Davis.

Phillips successfully defended his title in the 400, crossing in 47.30 seconds, ahead of Bryan Adams of UC Riverside who was second in 47.96. It was his second-fastest time of the season, trailing only the 47.28 he posted during Friday's heats.

Green, a junior from Ceres, added his conference title in the triple jump with a mark of 49-9.75. It was a career-best effort by more than five inches that propelled him from a tie for ninth all-time at UC Davis into fifth. Igor Seriba was third.

Michael Peterson stamped his freshman season with a strong performance in the pole vault, tying Scott Finley of UC Santa Barbara at 16-8 but only missing the top spot due to misses. The jump was the best of his season and pushed him to No. 4 on the Aggies' all-time ledger. Daniel Turvey took fifth.

Jonathan Peterson and Jonathan Sees went 3-4 in the 1,500 with Sees adding three points in the 800 by tying his career-best time of 1:51.44. Peterson came back later in the meet to finish fourth in the 5,000.

UC Davis scored in 10 events.

The Aggies, who have solidified themselves as a strong force in the Big West Conference, will send several athletes to the NCAA West Regional at the University of Texas in two weeks.

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

WOMEN
TEAM - 1. Cal Staet Northridge, 193; 2. UC Santa Barbara, 188; 3. UC DAVIS, 113; 4. Cal State Fullerton, 97; 5. UC Riverside; 71; 6. Cal Poly, 60; 7. Long Beach State, 53; 8. UC Irvine, 43.
100 - 1. Precious Watkins, Cal State Northridge, 11.91... 5. Melanise Chapman, 12.21; 7. Mina Mohamadi, 12.43.
400 - 1. Ciara Short, Cal State Fullerton, 52.37... 4. Shanie Landen, 55.72.
800 - 1. Brenda Martinez, UC Riverside, 2:06.31... 2. Lauren Wallace, 2:08.08; 5. Kiara Reed, 2:12.98.
1500 - 1. Brenda Martinez, UC Riverside, 4:24.80... 6. Abigail Gallaher, 4:36.77.
5000 - 1. Danielle Domenichelli, UC Santa Barbara, 16:39.22... 2. Kaitlin Gregg, 16:50.85; 8. Krista Drechsler, 17:27.34.
4x100 - 1. Cal State Northridge, 45.35... 4. UC Davis (Stephanie Eckels, Melanise Chapman, Shanie Landen, Mina Mohamadi), 46.37.
4x400 - 1. Cal State Northridge, 3:41.52... 2. UC Davis (Shanie Landen, Lauren Wallace, Stephanie Eckels, Kiara Reed), 3:42.58.
100H - 1. Lauren Williams, Cal State Fullerton, 13.41... 2. Sirena Williams, 13.43; 7. Chelsea Azevedo, 14.47; 8. Suzanne Howard, 14.60; 9. Kayla Carter, 14.89.
TJ - 1. Lauren Reid, UC Riverside, 13.16 (43-2.25)... 6. Stephanie Eckels, 12.12 (39-09.25); 9. Kayla Green, 11.86 (38-11.0); 13. Ofunne Okwudiafor, 11.10 (36-5.0).
SP - 1. Kayla Smith, UC Santa Barbara, 15.53 (50-11.50)... 7. Hannah Royall, 12.70 (41-8.0); 10. Ashley Hearn, 11.81 (38-9.0).
DT - 1. Ashley Hearn, 52.87 (173-5).
HJ - 1. Jane Doolittle, UC Santa Barbara, 1.83 (6-0.0)... 9. Carrington Mahr, 1.64 (5-4.50).

MEN
TEAM - 1. Cal State Northridge, 173; 2. Long Beach State, 145; 3. Cal Poly, 134; 4. UC Santa Barbara, 132.5; 5. UC DAVIS, 91; 6. UC Irvine, 58.5; UC Riverside; 43; 8. Cal State Fullerton, 42.
400 - 1. Thomas Phillips, UC Davis, 47.30.
800 - 1. Charles Jock, UC Irvine, 1:46.93... 6. Jonathan Sees, 1:51.44.
1500 - 1. Scott Smith, UC Santa Barbara, 3:48.92... 3. Jonathan Peterson, 3:51.17; 4. Jonathan Sees, 3:52.11.
5000 - 1. Scott Smith, UC Santa Barbara, 14:31.24... 4. Jonathan Peterson, 14:45.55; 6. Russell Pfaff, 14:48.05; 15. Jonathan Sees, 15:23.46; 25. Kyle Suarez, 15:55.62.
400H - 1. Kenneth Medwood, Long Beach State, 49.66... 8. Nolan Frazier, 53.05.
4x100 - 1. Cal State Northridge, 39.86... 6. UC Davis (Robert Neely, Polly Gnepa, Nolan Frazier, Will Guthrie), 41.98.
4x400 - 1. UC Irvine, 3:09.43... 6. UC Davis (Jeffery Campbell, Polly Gnepa, Nolan Frazier, Ray Green), 3:18.22.
110HH - 1. Polly Gnepa, UC Davis, 13.87.
TJ - 1. Ray Green, UC Davis, 15.18 (49-9.75)... 3. Igor Seriba, 15.03 (49-3.0)
PV - 1. Scott Finley, UC Santa Barbara, 5.08 (16-8.0)... 2. Michael Peterson, 5.08 (16-8.0); 4. Daniel Turvey, 4.93 (16-2.0).
SP - 1. Derek Cooper, Cal State Northridge, 17.87 (58-7.5)... 11. Ed Orgon, 15.26 (50-00.75); T15. Blake Asbill, 14.75 (48-4.75).
DT - 1. Derek Cooper, Cal State Northridge, 55.02 (180-6)... 9. Ed Orgon, 46.89 (153-10); 14. Jake Fuller, 40.69 (133-6).