IRVINE, Calif. — UC Davis track & field freshman Kirsten Carter was named the 2019 Big West Conference Women's Freshman of the Year after an outstanding debut season, announced by the conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Although Carter officially opened her career as an Aggie in the indoor season, her strong performances carried over into the outdoor portion of the spring, where she began her Big West legacy. At the Big West Conference Championships, Carter raced to a podium finish in all four of her events: 200m, 400m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay. Carter became just the third Aggie to win Freshman of the Year honors behind Holly Tokar (2014), and current teammate Kierra Davis (2017).
With the four events being contested on the final day of competition, Carter began the track portion of the meet by running the second leg of the 4x100m relay that claimed the 2019 title with a 45.21 time — a mark that is now fifth all-time at UC Davis. The Aggies have now won the 4x100m relay twice in the last three years, as the only two teams in UC Davis history to win the event.
Continuing into the women's 400m, Carter entered the race on an auto-qualifying time, winning her preliminary heat the day before, and was seeded second behind CSUN freshman Lena Kandissounon. After an outstanding race, Carter emerged on top with a new personal best time, and the event title. With her 53.85 — barely edging Kandissounon's 53.87 — Carter is now second all-time at UC Davis in the 400m, and is just the second Aggie to break the 54 second threshold. In the Big West record book, Carter is the first Aggie since Cekarri Nixon in 2014 to win the event, and the first freshman since Cal Poly's Maggie Vessey (2001) to claim the title.
Following the 400m was a highly contested 200m, as Long Beach State's Courtne Davis was the heavy favorite for the title. Carter finished in third with a time of 23.86, which was just two hundredths of a second off her PR in the 200m.
In the final event of the 2019 Championships, Carter ran the second leg on the fastest 4x400m relay of the season for UC Davis. The Aggies finished second overall, just falling to CSUN's team by less than half a second. Thanks to Carter's efforts, the Aggies recorded a time that is tied for fifth in the all-time lists, and improved upon their seeding by nearly eight seconds.
Carter finished her first appearance at the Big West Championships by putting up 34 total points, with 16 individual and 18 relay points to contribute to UC Davis' fourth place team total, returning the Aggies to a triple-digit point finish.
Alongside the eight major conference awards, 15 Aggies picked up All-Conference nods for their top-three finishes at the season finale meet. Carter and senior Erinn Beattie led with a team-high four All-Conference nods, followed by Jordy Ceja and Kyle Clancy with two apiece.
The track season will continue for some, as the NCAA West Prelims are set for next Thursday through Saturday, May 23-25, at Sacramento State, who will host the meet. The top 48 individuals per event in the West Region will qualify for the Prelims, along with the top 24 relay teams.
2019 Big West Track & Field Awards
Women's Track Athlete of the Year: Samantha Huerta, CSF
Men's Track Athlete of the Year: Marcel Espinoza, CSF
Women's Field Athlete of the Year: Hope Bender, UCSB
Men's Field Athlete of the Year: Kemonie Briggs, LBSU
Women's Freshman of the Year: Kirsten Carter, UCD
Men's Freshman of the Year: Bashiru Abdullahi, CSUN
Women's Coach of the Year: John Elders, CSF
Men's Coach of the Year: Andy Sythe, LBSU
2019 Big West Men's Track & Field All-Conference Team
Nigel Burnett - 100m
Xolan Brown - 800m
Jordy Ceja - 5000m, 10,000m
Anthony Easter - 400mH
Kyle Clancy - Decathlon, High Jump
Jered Española - Pole Vault
Drew Xandrine-Anderson - Triple Jump
2019 Big West Women's Track & Field All-Conference Team
Kirsten Carter - 200m, 400m, 4x100m, 4x400m
Sarah Anderson - 10,000m
Natsumi McGee- 4x100m
Kierra Davis - 4x100m
Kieana Butler - 4x100m
Flora Oliveira - 4x400m
Erinn Beattie - 4x400m, Heptathlon, High Jump, Long Jump
Mikaela Adolphus - 4x400m
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