LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The UC San Diego track and field teams started the 2009 season on the right foot, as both the men and women registered team victories in a home quad meet Saturday at the Triton Tack and Field Stadium. The UCSD women scored a total of 239 points to defeat Cal Poly Pomona (136), San Diego State (116), and Cal State Dominguez Hills (63), while the Tritons bested the Broncos 101-80 in dual meet action on the men's side.

“Overall we're very pleased with the team's performance out here today,” men's head coach Tony Salerno said. “It was a pretty dominant performance by both squads and the women's team really showed how good they can be this year.”

Highlighting the big day for the women was junior Danielle Thu's individual win in the hammer throw with a distance of 189'5”. The toss not only shattered the old school record of 172'7”, but was a NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark.

Senior Sarah Hendy also had a big performance for the throws squad, picking up a victory and an automatic qualifying mark in the discus throw with a distance of 156'6”.

Leah Murphy won the triple jump event for the Tritons after a leap of 38'7.5”. Her jump was good enough for an NCAA provisional qualifier. Linda Rainwater earned a trip to nationals and set a new school record with a high jump of 5'8”, while Christine Merrill's time of 14.24 in the 100-meter hurdles was the third-fastest in program history. Merrill notched NCAA provisional qualifying marks in both the 100 and 400-meter hurdles.

Senior Scott Tsuda turned in a stellar effort for the men's team, setting a school record in the triple jump at 48'3.5”. His jump was also a provisional national qualifying mark.

Junior Fred Cook was dominant for the throws team, posting individual wins in the shot put (50'8”), discus (144'11”), and hammer throw (158'4”). Her performance in the shot put was fifth all-time.

Senior Jake LeVieux led the way for the distance squad, winning the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:05.87, which was nearly four seconds faster than Pomona's Jersain Torres.

The Tritons will be back in action next Saturday when they compete in the All-Cal Championships in Irvine. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.