For the first time in the program’s history, The UC Riverside track and field program hosted the Big West conference championships over the weekend. This weekend’s action consisted of the multi-events, in which athletes competed in multiple events over the course of the meet.
The championships had a bittersweet start as highly favored Danielle Littleton was not able to compete due to a bum hamstring.
Junior Jazmine Harper of UC Riverside finished in eighth place in the heptathlon.
Harper scored 557 points in the long jump with a 4.99m jump, 277 points in the javelin throw with a 19.38m throw and 715 points in the 800m run with a time of 2:28.21. After the first day, Harper sat in fifth place. She had 2,823 points, 226 points behind the no. 1 leader.
Harper placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.48 for 912 points. In the high jump, she hopped over 4’ 8.25” for another 544 points and made 32’ 1.00” in the shot put for sixth place and 515 points. In the 200, the last event, she finished with a time of 25.38 for 852 points.
Highlander Kristina Cornejo placed 17th after the first day with 1,694 points in her first Big West conference championship appearance. Her two strongest events were the 200, which she ran in 29 seconds and was good for 554 points, and the 800 which she finished in 2:52.26, good for 440 points.
On the men’s side, Matthew Sam found himself in 14th place after completing five out of 10 events with 2,840 points. Eventually, he finished in the 12th place spot after the second day of competition with a total of 4,774 points.
Sam finished in the 12th place spot after the second day of competition with a total of 4,774 points. He ran a 19.70 time in the 110m hurdles, generating 373 points, 23.89m in the discus throw scoring 346 points and finished with 2.90m in the pole vault which was good for 333 points. He also scored 437 points in the javelin throw and had a time of 5:20.91 in the 1500, good for 445 points.
UCR track and field will host the second weekend of the championships, consisting of the single events, starting on May 15.
