LOS ANGELES ? Competing against top-notch competition, the UC San Diego track and field teams completed the final two days of the 2009 Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational with several strong performances. The women's 4x100 relay team set a new school record with a time of 46.75 in the event, while senior Scott Tsuda and sophomore Stephanie LeFever recorded individual victories in the triple jump and long jump, respectively.
Facing mostly Division I schools and world-class athletes, UCSD recorded a total of six NCAA qualifying marks over the three-day event.
“Overall, it was a pretty good meet for us, considering the competition,” head coach Tony Salerno said. “We felt like we held our own playing with the big kids.”
Christine Merrill, Katie Skorupa, Kelly Fogarty, and Laiah Blue teamed to break the program's all-time mark in the 4x100, eclipsing the 46.94 time set by Kayleigh Knudson, Skorupa, Merrill, and Fogarty last season. The team finished eighth in the event behind some of the premiere relay squads in the country, including the Olympic medalist World Class ?A' unit of Dawn Harper, Michelle Perry, Virginia Powell, and Allison Felix that placed first with a time of 43.46.
The women's 4x400 relay team of Merrill, Skorupa, Deyna Roberson, and Anna Lee McGregor posted a time of 3:44.65, which was good enough for seventh place and an NCAA automatic qualifyer.
Tsuda won the men's triple jump open with a leap of 48'2”, missing his own school record by a half inch. The Burbank, Calif. native beat out UC Riverside's Ryan Swafford (47'1.5”) and Utah State's Blake Hadfield (46'9.5”) for the victory.
LeFever's win came in the long jump open after a solid final mark of 18'9”. Her jump was a quarter-inch off of her personal best in the event and a half-inch farther than Jasmine Pickett of Cal Poly's mark.
In addition to running the last leg for the Tritons' 4x100 relay team, Blue registered an NCAA national qualifying mark in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing sixth in the invite with a time of 13.97. The time was just shy of her own school record of 13.66, which she set in 2007. The senior from El Cajon, Calif. also posted a provision qualifying performance in the 400 hurdles with a time of 61.61.
Senior Sarah Hendy finished third in the women's discus invite with a toss of 160'11”. The mark ranks second all-time behind Shannon Quigley's school record of 163'2” and was good enough for an NCAA automatic qualifier. Hendy finished behind Stanford's Micha Wallerstedt (164'2”) and Texas A&M's Anteneshi Lindsey (162'4”).
Sophomore Bre Schofield picked up an NCAA provisional qualifying performance in the women's 800-meter open run, finishing ninth with a time of 2.14:73.
Casey Ryan's performance in the high jump invite was also worth noting, as the junior placed fifth overall with a jump of 6'8.75, competing against a field that featured Olympian Jamie Nieto, whose leap of 7'0.5” won the event.
The Tritons are back in action with the Long Beach Invitational Saturday, April 18.
