TThe UC Riverside men’s and women’s track and field had a busy week as the competition started Thursday at the Mt. Sac Relays, and ended Saturday at the Beach Invitational. Both meets attracted thousands of athletes as the track and field season is in full swing. The Mt. Sac Relays were hosted by Mount San Antonio College at the Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, CA. The Beach Invitational was hosted by CSU Long Beach at Cerritos College in Cerritos, CA.
“We are looking for NCAA and Big West qualifying marks. Both meets provide stellar competition for each individual athlete. Long Beach State has over 2,600 entries into the meet so all our athletes will get to race people of like ability all meet long. Weather will be great, training has been awesome; we’re ready for the stretch run of the season” said Coach Browne.
Notable performances for the UCR men’s team were Hernell Dyer in the 200m dash with a controlled time of 22.02. Michael Hern ran a 10.70 in the 100m, placing fifth in his heat. Justin Harris ran a 10.72, placing third in his heat. Harris’s time was a season and collegiate personal best. Kevin Fashola ran a 10.95 in the 100m, setting a new personal best for him. The team of Peter Guenther, Jerome Rideaux, Bryan Adams and Michael Koger ran a 3:13.04 in the 4x400m relay placing 10th. They barely edged 11th place Northern Arizona by just 0.02 seconds. Michael Koger also ran in the 400m hurdles placing 21st overall with a time of 53.21.
In the field events, Caleb Stuart placed fifth with a throw of 59.96m in the hammer throw. Travis Smith placed fifth in the shot put with a throw of 17.96. In the triple jump, Ryan Swafford continued his solid season, finishing fourth with a leap of 15.38m.
Notable performances from the women’s side were in the 4x400m relay. The team of Yozmine Modeste, Adriana Paz, Alisha Brown and Raquel Hefflin ran the relay in 3:51.70 coming in at 18th overall. Damajeria Dubose ran a personal best in the 1500m with a time of 4:30.71. Raquel Hefflin ran a 2:08.25 in 800m setting a new personal best and moving into fifth on the UCR 800m record. Hefflin also set a new personal best in the 1500m with a time of 4:27.99. Nechelle Reyes ran a personal best in the 100m with a time of 12.43. Danielle Littleton ran a solid time of 14.02 in the 100m hurdles. Brianna Kennedy-Feldhaus ran a personal best in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.38.
In the field events, Littleton competed in her first jumping event since returning from injury, as she set a solid 5.72m mark in the long jump. Deja Watkins had a personal best mark with a throw of 13.26m in the shot put. Ashley Gatewood came in 11th in the javelin with a throw of 44.02m.
The Highlanders will again have a busy week of competition. The Drake Relays, UCSD Triton Invitational, Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational and Steve Scott Invitational will take place April 26-29.
The Highlanders will again have a busy week of competition at various meets. The meets that are scheduled from April 26th – 29th are the Drake Relays, UCSD Triton Invitational, Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, and Steve Scott Invitational.
