IRVINE, Calif. -- Third-year sophomore Marlene Gutierrez unleashed a career-best throw of 14.61 meters, or 47 feet, 11.25 inches, to capture the individual women's shot put championship, highlighting UC Davis' second day of action at the Big West Conference track and field championships at Anteater Stadium Friday. Meanwhile, junior Ryman Crone caught top-seeded Bobby Brana of Cal State Fullerton on the final stretch to place second in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Gutierrez recorded that personal-record push on her opening attempt, then had it stand up for the remainder of the competition. Furthermore, the psychology major from Lindsay, California, followed with throws of 14.25m and 14.03m in her series. Gutierrez remains the only woman in the Big West to surpass the 14-meter barrier this season. UC Irvine's Taylor Crenshaw finished second at 13.60 (44-7.5), more than a full meter behind.

With the win, Gutierrez became the first Aggie thrower to win a Big West title since Ashley Hearn claimed the discus title in 2012, and the program's first shot put champion since Chidinma Onyewuenyi won the event exactly 10 years ago. Gutierrez also moved up one spot in the school record book to fourth, eclipsing Kim Gleeson's 2005 best of 14.48m (47-6.25).

Crone, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major and the school's male representative for 2021 Big West Scholar-Athlete of the Year, shattered his old PR with a time of nine minutes, 11.12 seconds. That marks better than an 18-second improvement from his previous best from the 2019 Big West meet, and the fastest by any Aggie since Jordon Rushing went 9:02.31 at the 2016 San Francisco State Distance Carnival.

With 34 team points, the Aggie women are tied with Long Beach State for fifth place after nine of the 21 events. Crone supplied eight points for that runner-up finish in the steeple, keeping the UC Davis men in sixth place in the men's standings.

The 10 points from the women's shot put was the largest of several scoring contributions from the Aggie women on Friday. Kathleen Bufka placed seventh in the long jump with a 5.55m (18-2.5) mark, with Sydney Holmes right behind at 5.51m (18-1). That was Holmes' second scoring finish for the Aggies, as she had already provided third-place points during the heptathlon one week earlier.

Freshman Amelia Wiggs opened the day with a season-best 1.56 meters, or 5-1.25, in the women's high jump, good for a share of seventh place and 1.5 more points toward the Aggies' team score. She needed just one attempt at each of 1.46m, 1.51m and 1.56m before missing three times at 1.61m. Wiggs' personal record remains 1.60m (5-3), set in her junior year at Los Alamitos High School. Emma Arriaga then added two more points with her seventh-place finish in the 3,000 steeplechase, crossing in 11:37.79, better than an eight-second improvement from her debut in the event at the Causeway Track Classic two weeks prior.

Freshman Kalah Bateman also put herself into scoring position with a 12.25 in the women's 100-meter dash prelims, tying her PR despite a 1.5 meter per second headwind. She crossed in second in the third heat, fifth overall, in Friday's prelims. Third-year Anaya Ward then finished third in her women's 800 prelim heat, claiming the second at-large berth in Saturday's final. Her season-best and eighth-place time of 2:12.50 edged Long Beach State Anitha Graves by just .02. 

Bateman will run at 2 p.m. on Saturday, while Ward will follow at 2:20 p.m.

On the men's side, Anthony Easter won the second heat of the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.29 seconds, fastest in the field by two tenths of a second heading into Saturday's final at 1:15 p.m.. Matthew Okonkwo and Sebastian Criego finished 1-2 in the first heat of the men's 400 preliminaries to earn the two automatic qualifications for the final heat. Okonkwo, who set the school record with a league-leading 46.36 at CSUN on April 2, crossed in 47.56 seconds. Also among the sprinters, Theo Goodwin won the second heat of the 100-meter dash prelims with a time of 10.78, earning the automatic advancement to Saturday's final. He was the lone Aggie to qualify in that event. The men's 400 final runs at 1:45 p.m., with the 100 following at 2:10.

The Big West Conference championship meet continues through Saturday. The field events open with the men's triple jump at 11 a.m., while the running events will commence with the women's 4x100 relay at noon.

2021 BIG WEST CONFERENCE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS, DAY 2
Anteater Stadium (Irvine, Calif.)
Winners plus UC Davis entrants

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES - 1. Cal Poly, 82.50; 2. UC Santa Barbara, 55.5; 3. Cal State Fullerton,  54.5; 4. UC Irvine, 36; 5 (tie). Long Beach State, 34;  UC Davis, 34; 7. Hawai'i, 21; 8. CSUN, 12; 9. UC Riverside, 11; 10. CSU Bakersfield, 10.5. 

MEN'S TEAM SCORES - 1. Long Beach State, 98; 2. UC Santa Barbara, 87; 3. Cal Poly, 55; 4. Cal State Fullerton, 47; 5. UC Irvine, 27; 6. UC Davis, 18; 7. UC Riverside, 9; 8. CSUN, 7; 9. CSU Bakersfield, 3.

WOMEN'S HIGH JUMP - 1. Iesha Hamm, CSF, 1.76m/5-9.25... t7. Amelia Wiggs, 1.56m/5-1.25.

MEN'S SHOT PUT - 1. Kyle Tsu, UCI, 18.12m/59-5.5... 11. Corey Moore, 15.37m/50-5.25; 14. Jarrett Rasmussen, 14.83m/48-8.

MEN'S HIGH JUMP - 1. Jason Smith, LBSU, 2.17m/7-1.5.

WOMEN'S LONG JUMP - 1. Naiah Boardingham, CSF, 6.36m/20-10.5... 7. Kathleen Bufka, 5.55m/18-2.5; 8. Sydney Holmes, 5.51m/18-1; 11. Amanda Mell, 5.36m/17-7.

WOMEN'S SHOT PUT - 1. Marlene Gutierrez, UC Davis, 14.61m/47-11.25... 19. Nane Ikahihifo, 11.04m/36-2.75.

MEN'S LONG JUMP - 1.  Jason Smith, LBSU, 7.65m/25-1.25... 17. David Hunter, 6.75m/22-1.75.

WOMEN'S 100 HURDLES PRELIMINARIES - 1. Brisa Guzman-Sanchez, 13.69 (w:+1.8).

MEN'S 110 HURDLES PRELIMINARIES - 1. Anthony Easter, UC Davis, 14.29 (w:+1.8).

WOMEN'S 400 METERS PRELIMINARIES - 1. Anisa Rind, Cal Poly, 56.89... 13. Alexys Ford, 59.85.

MEN'S 400 METERS PRELIMINARIES - 1. Matthew Okonkwo, UC Davis, 47.56... 5. Sebastian Criego, 49.00.

WOMEN'S 100 METERS PRELIMINARIES - 1. Hailey Murdica, CSF, 11.83 (w: +3.1)... 5. Kalah Bateman, 12.25 (w: -1.5); 14. Kathleen Bufka, 12.59 (w: +3.1).

MEN'S 100 METERS PRELIMINARIES - 1. Chineme Allison, CP, 10.65 (w: +0.3)... 2. Theo Goodwin, 10.78 (w: -0.4); 13. Brandon Jetter, 11.13 (w: -0.4).

WOMEN'S 800 METERS PRELIMINARIES - 1. Samantha Huerta, CSF, 2:11.06... 8. Anaya Ward, 2:12.50.

MEN'S 800 METERS PRELIMINARIES - 1. Jimmy Chahal, UCSB, 1:51.18.

WOMEN'S 3,000 STEEPLECHASE FINAL - 1. Sarah Hollis, CSF, 10:34.61... 7. Emma Arriaga, 11:37.79.

MEN'S 3,000 STEEPLECHASE FINAL - 1. Nick Randazzo, UCSB, 9:01.86... 2. Ryman Crone, 9:11.12.

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