IRVINE, Calif. -- Junior pole vaulter Jered Española successfully defended his 2019 Big West Conference individual championship while sprinter Matthew Okonkwo ran the fastest time of the men's 200-meter dash preliminary heats with a personal-record 21.41 seconds, highlighting UC Davis' Day 1 action at the league's track & field championship meet at UC Irvine's Anteater Stadium. The psychology major from Union City, California, posted a winning leap of 5.21 meters, or 17 feet, one inch on his first attempt at that height.
Española also put the UC Davis men on the team scoreboard, adding 10 points for his first-place finish.
A 2019 NCAA West Prelims qualifier, Española missed his personal record by a mere centimeter, having cleared 5.22 meters at the Causeway Track Classic two weeks prior. He became just the fifth Aggie pole vaulter to eclipse the 17-foot threshold in that meet, and was the only Big West athlete to beat that standard on Thursday.
Okonkwo, already the conference's fastest 400 runner during the season, bested his previous PR of 21.79, set more than two years ago at the 2019 Cal Opener. That marks the No. 6 200 time in school history, and the fastest since Sava Boyadjiev went 21.17 at the 2014 Causeway Track Classic. Okonkwo already holds the school 400 record of 46.36.
The UC Davis women added a half-point to their team score thanks to Katrina Meier's share of eighth place in the women's pole vault, thanks to a leap of 3.74 meters, or 12-3.25. The finished the day with another 11 points from the 10K, with Sarah Anderson (35:33.84) and Brooke Starn (35:56.82) placing third and fourth. For Anderson, that marked her fourth top-three finish in the 10K at the Big West championship meets during her career.
The Aggies advanced three runners from the men's 400 hurdles to Saturday's finals, as Anthony Easter and Will Sornberger finished 1-2 in the second preliminary heat with times of 53.56 and 53.86, respectively. Additionally, Joey Monti nabbed the final at-large spot in the finals with his personal-best 54.49.
Two UC Davis competitors qualified for Saturday's final from each of the men's 200 and women's 1,500. Joining Okonkwo in that race is Theo Goodwin, who broke the 22-second barrier for the first time with this 21.90 in the second heat. He placed seventh among the prelim finishers and nabbed the top at-large spot for the final. Soon after, Sierra Atkins (4:39.21) and Chloe Arriaga (4:41.08) placed 10th and 12th overall in the 1,500 prelims to move on to Saturday's final.
The men's 1,500 prelims, originally scheduled for Thursday's session, was canceled as the Big West coaches agreed to advance all 15 entrants to Saturday's 12:45 p.m. final. Ryman Crone (3:47.69) and Nicholas Brichta (3:53.08) are respectively seeded third and 10th in that race.
The Aggies finished the day in fifth place on the men's side, with Long Beach State (59) and UC Santa Barbara (52) out to the early lead. In the women's standings, Cal Poly (71.5) has more points than the next three schools combined, while UC Davis sits in fifth place with 17.5.
Day 2 of the Big West track & field championships begins at 10 a.m. with the women's high jump. The first running event will be the women's 100 hurdles prelims at 4:30 p.m.
2021 BIG WEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS, DAY 1
Anteater Stadium (Irvine, Calif.)
Winners plus UC Davis entrants
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES - 1. Cal Poly, 71.5; 2. UC Santa Barbara, 28; 3. Long Beach State, 18.5; 4. UC Irvine, 18; 5. UC Davis, 17.5; 6. Cal State Fullerton, 13; 7. CSU Bakersfield, 10.5; 8. Hawai'i, 9; 9. UC Riverside, 5; 10. CSUN, 4.
MEN'S TEAM SCORES - 1. Long Beach State, 59; 2. UC Santa Barbara, 52; 3. Cal Poly, 39; Cal State Fullerton, 15; 5. UC Davis, 10; 6. UC Riverside, 9; 7. UC Irvine, 8; 8. CSU Bakersfield, 3.
WOMEN'S HAMMER THROW - 1. Emily Hallett, Cal Poly, 58.82m/192-11... 14. Marlene Gutierrez, 46.55m/152-8; 16. Erika Nordman, 44.70m/146-8; 18. Brena Videll, 43.61m/143-1.
MEN'S POLE VAULT - 1. Jered Española, UC Davis, 5.21m/17-1.
MEN'S HAMMER THROW - 1. Alec Jones, LBSU, 60.97m/200-0... 14. Kevin Ward, 52.21m/171-3.
WOMEN'S JAVELIN THROW - 1. Hannah Katches, LBSU, 41.76m/137-0.
WOMEN'S POLE VAULT - 1. Brooke Tjerrild, Cal Poly, 4.24m/13-11... t8. Katrina Meier, 3.74m/12-3.25; t12. Bianca Becker, 3.59m/11-9.25.
MEN'S JAVELIN - 1. Chase Tarr, UCSB, 66.74m/218-11.
WOMEN'S 400 HURDLES PRELIMINARIES - 1. Maya Occiano, CSF, 1:01.81.
MEN'S 400 HURDLES PRELIMINARIES - 1. Bikram Thiara, 52.63... 4. Anthony Easter, 53.56; 5. Will Sornberger, 53.86; 8. Joey Monti, 54.49.
WOMEN'S 200 METERS PRELIMINARIES- 1. Kayla Richardson, UCI, 24.07 (w: +1.8)... 13. Madison Thomas, 25.59 (w: +1.8); Chelsea Daye, DNS.
MEN'S 200 METERS PRELIMINARIES- 1. Matthew Okonkwo, UC Davis, 21.41 (w: +0.1)... 7. Theo Goodwin, 21.90 (w: +0.8); 10. Sebastian Criego, 22.09 (w: +1.3); 14. Fabio Kammler, 22.29 (w: +1.3); 18. Brandon Jetter, 22.77 (w: +0.8).
WOMEN'S 1,500 METERS PRELIMINARIES- 1. Astrid Rosvall, UCSB, 4:35.17... 10. Sierra Atkins, 4:39.21; 12. Chloe Arriaga, 4:41.08; 13. Brenna Wapstra Scott, 4:42.34.
WOMEN'S 10,000 METERS FINAL - 1. Hannah Chau, UCI, 34:53.13... 3. Sarah Anderson, 35:33.84; 4. Brooke Starn, 35:56.82; 11. Marie Navarro, 37:04.21; 12. Gillian Meeks, 37:24.48.
MEN'S 10,000 METERS FINAL - 1. Garrett Reynolds, UCSB, 32:08.29... 9. Austin Vasquez, 32:48.62; 10. Simon Fuller, 32:53.05.
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