March 9, 2013
DAVIS, Calif. - Led by shot put and discus throw wins from freshman Praise Adesida, the UC Davis women's track and field team captured 11 events at the Aggie Open on Saturday at Woody Wilson Track, while the men were victorious in five.
The meet was the first home competition for UC Davis this spring and featured action from most of the team. The event brought together several hundred collegiate and open competitors.
"Home meets always offer a chance to compete in a comfortable and known environment," said Aggie coach Drew Wartenburg. "Despite some tricky conditions for many events with the wind, having athletes remain focused on simply competing yielded a number of event wins as well as some marks that we can build on."
The results were promising for UC Davis. Adesida, a first-year Aggie from Martinez, won the shot put with a mark of 13.69 meters (44 feet, 11 inches which debuted her at No. 7 on the program's all-time list.
She was also victorious in the discus, posting a distance of 44.61 meters (146-4) which entered her No. 8 on that list. She won that event by nearly seven feet.
Other members of the women's team to earn victories on Saturday included Cekarri Nixon (200), Melanise Chapman (400), Nina Anderson (3,000), Alycia Cridebring (5,000), Kayla Carter (100H), Katie Fry (2K steeplechase), Katie Barber (high jump) and Danielle Steffen (pole vault).
Steffen's winning height in the pole vault - 3.50 meters (11-5.75) - ties her for seventh all-time at UC Davis.
Ethan Ostrom helped highlight the Aggie men's wins with his first-place effort in the pole vault. Ostrom, the school-record holder, cleared 17 feet in just his second meet of the season, posting a mark of 5.20 meters (17-00.75). He won by more than a foot.
Jordan Rushing (1,500), Grayson Hough (5,000), and Sava Boyadjiev (long jump) also captured events for UC Davis.
"At this point in the season, athletes are beginning to find some consistency while ironing out the kinks in our meet-day routines," said Wartenburg. "We have more one opportunity to get looks at good competition across the causeway next weekend before hunkering down for final exams and a bye week."
UC Davis will compete at the Hornet Invitational at Sacramento State next Saturday.
