NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -- Third-year sophomore Matthew Okonkwo set a school record of 46.36 seconds in the 400-meter dash, winning his race and highlighting UC Davis at the CSUN Red & Black Invitational at Matador Track & Field Complex Friday.

The psychology major from Winchester, California, eclipsed the previous benchmark of 46.47, set by Brian Thomas at the 2018 Big West Conference Championships. They remain the only two Aggies ever to break the 47-second threshold. Okonkwo's previous PR was the 47.47 he ran at the Cal Opener in 2019.

Among the field events, Jered Espanola posted a season best of 5.10 meters, or 16 feet, 8.75 inches, to win the men's pole vault. That fell just three centimeters shy of his PR, which already ranks him sixth in UC Davis history. In the women's event, Bianca Becker cleared the bar at 3.89m (12-9), a PR that moves her up to ninth in program annals. Samantha Louie hit a PR in the triple jump of 11.94 meters, or 39-1. That beats her previous best of 11.90m from the 2019 Big West meet, 10th in the school record book. 

Okonkwo's win was one of three by the Aggies in sprint events. Theo Goodwin captured the men's 100 with a 10.88, and took part of a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 at 22.13. Sebastian Criego led that Aggie trifecta in the 200 with a 22.06 time.  Meanwhile, Chelsea Daye captured the women's 200 with a time of 24.74.

Anthony Easter also led a 1-2-3 sweep in the men's 400 hurdles with a 53.10 time. The men's 4x400 relay closed out the running events with a 3:12.48, edging UC Irvine by 0.58 seconds and just missing the school's all-time top five list by just five hundredths of a second.

The Aggie track & field teams had student-athletes in three different cities Friday night. The majority of the distance crew competed at the Stanford Invitational, while Sarah Anderson was selected to the field of the Hayward Premiere at Oregon. Anderson placed 20th in the women's 10K at Oregon, crossing in 34:34.47. 

Brooke Starn, a graduate student formerly from Harvard, led a trio of Aggies competing in the two 5K events at Stanford. She placed seventh with a time of 16:31.18, moving her into sixth in school history. Starn's mark is also the best by any Aggie since Christine Hoffman went 16:30.85 at the 2014 Mt. SAC Relays.

UC Davis finishes its weekend with a group of middle distance runners at Stanford on Saturday afternoon.

CSUN RED & BLACK INVITATIONAL
Matador Track & Field Complex (Northridge, Calif.)
Winners plus UC Davis entrants • Only events with Aggies listed

WOMEN'S 400 RELAY - 1. UC Davis, 48.43.

MEN'S 400 RELAY - 1. UC Davis, 41.98.

WOMEN'S 400 METERS - 1. Cecily Montanez, UCI, 57.96... Alexys Ford, DNS.

MEN'S 400 METERS - 1. Matthew Okonkwo, UC Davis, 46.36... 3. Sebastian Criego, 48.16.

WOMEN'S 100 METERS (w: +0.3) - 1. Aryel Coats, UCI, 12.16... 2. Chelsea Daye, 12.41; 4. Kalah Bateman, 12.77; 5. Kathleen Bufka, 12.93; 6. Madison Thomas, 12.96.

MEN'S 100 METERS (w: +0.2) - 1. Theo Goodwin, UC Davis, 10.88... 3. Fabio Kammler, 11.06; 4. Brandon Jetter, 11.11.

WOMEN'S 800 METERS - 1. Cathy Salazar-Gasca, UCI, 2:16.67... 3. Alexys Ford, 2:20.27.

MEN'S 400 HURDLES - 1. Anthony Easter, UC Davis, 53.10... 2. Will Sornberger, 53.95; 3. Joey Monti, 56.02.

WOMEN'S 200 METERS (w: +1.2) - 1. Chelsea Daye, UC Davis, 24.74... 6. Madison Thomas, 26.11; 8. Kalah Bateman, 26.75; Alexis Sutherland, DNS.

MEN'S 200 METERS (w: +0.4) - 1. Sebastian Criego, UC Davis, 22.06... 2. Theo Goodwin, 22.13; 4. Fabio Kammler, 22.38; 7. Brandon Jetter, 22.78.

MEN'S 4x400 RELAY - 1. UC Davis, 3:12.48.

WOMEN'S TRIPLE JUMP - 1. Sameerah Evans, CSUN, 12.58m (41-3.25 w: +0.0)... 2. Samantha Louie, 11.94m (39-2.25 w: +1.7); 3. Kerrington Smith, 11.92 (39-1.25 w: +1.8); 4. Amanda Mell, 11.91m (39-1.0 w: +0.0)

WOMEN'S HAMMER THROW - 1. Brianna Villanueva, UCI, 54.63m (179-2)... 2. Marlene Gutierrez, 51.26m (168-2); 4. Brena Videll, 47.28m (155-1)

WOMEN'S SHOT PUT - 1. Marlene Gutierrez, UC Davis, 14.02m (46-0)... 4. Nane Ikahihifo, 12.03m (39-5.75).

MEN'S SHOT PUT - 1. Kyle Tsu, UCI, 17.62 (57-9.75)... 3. Corey Moore, 15.47m (50-9.25); 6. Jarrett Rasmussen, 14.92 (48-11.5).

MEN'S POLE VAULT - 1. Jered Espanola, UC Davis, 5.10 (16-8.75)... 3. David Miketta, no height.

WOMEN'S POLE VAULT - 1. Bianca Becker, UC Davis, 3.89 (12-9.0)... 3t. Katrina Meier, 3.57 (11-8.5); 5. Caroline Au, 3.42m (11-2.5).

MEN'S LONG JUMP - 1. Bradley Bryant, CSUB, 6.91 (22-8.0 w: +0.0)... 3. David Hunter, 6.70m (21-11.75 w: +1.7).

MEN'S DISCUS THROW - 1. Kyle Tsu, UCI, 51.55 (169-1)... 4. Corey Moore, 46.85m (153-8); 5. Jarrett Rasmussen, 45.57m (149-6).

WOMEN'S DISCUS THROW - 1. Brianna Villanueva, UCI, 49.00m (160-9)... 4. Nane Ikahihifo, 38.71m (127-0); 5. Brena Videll, 36.98 (121-4).

WOMEN'S LONG JUMP - 1. Sonsoles Barba, CSUN, 5.67m (18-7.25 w: +0.4)... 4. Kathleen Bufka, 5.32m (17-5.5 w: +1.1); Amanda Mell, DNS.

MEN'S HAMMER THROW - 1. Hugo Santana, CSUB, 56.24m (184-6)... 3. Kevin Ward, 52.88m (173-6).

WOMEN'S HIGH JUMP - 1. Hannah Walker, CSUB, 1.53m (5-0.25)... 2. Amelia Wiggs, 1.53m (5-0.25).
 

HAYWARD PREMIERE
Hayward Field (Eugene, Ore.)
Winners plus UC Davis entrants • Only events with Aggies listed

WOMEN'S 10,000 METERS - 1. Clare O'Brien, Boise State, 32:43.70... 20. Sarah Anderson, 34:34.47.

STANFORD INVITATIONAL
Cobb Track & Angell Field (Stanford, Calif.)
Winners plus UC Davis entrants • Only events with Aggies listed

WOMEN'S 5,000 METERS - 1. Ella Donaghu, Stanford, 15:36.52... 7. Brooke Starn, 16:31.18; 14. Chloe Arriaga, 17:28.62.

MEN'S 5,000 METERS - 1. Cole Sprout, Stanford, 13:43.92... 21. Austin Vasquez, 15:03.59.

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