April 16, 2011
Complete Results
DAVIS, Calif. - Ugo Eke was a part of three wins to help lead the UC Davis women while Alex Wilright contributed to two on the men's side, as the Aggie track and field teams combined for 13 first-place finishes during Saturday's Woody Wilson Classic held on campus during Picnic Day.
Altogether, the women picked up nine victories while the men had four. Eke, who broke the school record in the 400-meter dash at Sacramento State last weekend, captured the event this weekend in 54.84 seconds while also winning the 200 in 24.88 and running a leg of the victorious 4x400 relay that crossed in 3:50.17.
Wilright, the school's record-holder in the 400 hurdles, led a 1-2-3 UC Davis finish in that event with his time of 51.67 before helping the Aggies to a season-best time of 3:13.12 in the meet-ending 4x400.
The meet brought together more than 600 collegiate, club and unattached athletes for competition which has been a Picnic Day tradition. The Woody Wilson Classic also serves as a reunion for the program's alumni and in most years, such as this one, as the final home competition for the team's senior class.
"I don't think the weight of the day hits our senior class until we have our senior ceremony during the meet," said Byron Talley, interim director of track and field.
The senior class, though, helped lead the way on Saturday, contributing to 10 of the program's 13 wins.
Senior Mina Mohamadi was a part of two of them, opening the day by running the anchor leg on the victorious 4x100 relay which had a season-best time of 46.97 seconds, and then later beating the field in the 100 with a time of 12.13.
Senior Chidinma Onyewuenyi also had a big day, going over the 50-foot mark in the shot put for the second time this season - she's the only Aggie to ever surpass that distance - with her winning effort of 50 feet, 2 inches.
Senior Offune Okwudiafor picked up her first triple jump win of the year, taking the event on Saturday with a mark of 37-7.75 while going into a headwind of 2.1 meters/second. UC Davis also earned a first-place finishes from Lauren Radke who had a career-best mark of 12-6.75 - also facing a headwind - while solidifying her No. 2 spot on the program's all-time list.
Alycia Cridebring added the final win, crossing the finish line of the 5,000 invitational section in 17:40.26.
Seniors helped the Aggie men in three of their four wins. Besides Wilright's pair of first-place showings, Ray Green added another by capturing the triple jump with a wind-aided mark of 49-3.75, his second-best performance of the season.
Daniel Turvey won the top section of the pole vault, clearing 15-11.75.
"It was a beautiful day weather-wise," Talley said. "It was a perfect day to compete. I think we were pretty even in our level of competition and performances."
UC Davis showed depth throughout the day's events. The Aggie women had 26 top-five placings while the men had 26 in the top 10. The women grabbed the top four spots in the 400 with Melanise Chapman, Alana Babers and Shanie Landen following Eke across the line. Karl Moran and Jeffrey Campbell finished behind Wilright in the long hurdles, giving UC Davis a sweep of the top three in that event.
Saturday's competition produced one meet and stadium record, that coming from American River's Bracin Walker in the long jump who won with a mark of 25-7.50.
UC Davis also sent a pair of distance runners to the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays on Friday night. Krista Drechsler was timed during her section of the 5,000 in 16:48.80, moving her to No. 6 all-time at UC Davis, while Jonathan Sees just missed moving into the men's top-10 list in that event, crossing in 14:26.04 in his heat.
The Aggies will return to action next weekend when they travel to Cal for the Brutus Hamilton Invitational.
