CHICO, Calif. ? The UC San Diego women turned in a dominant performance to capture a fifth consecutive conference title, while the men matched the program's best finish after the final day of competition at the 2009 California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships at University Stadium on the campus of Chico State.
The Triton women finished with a total of 247.50 points in 21 events to outdistance second place Cal State L.A. (164) for the conference championship. Chico State took third with 142.50 points, while Humboldt State finished fourth with 62 points and Cal Poly Pomona was fifth with 61.50. San Francisco State (57. 50), Cal State Stanislaus (49), and Cal State Dominguez Hills (34) finished sixth through eighth, respectively.
On the men's side, UCSD tallied 164 points to finish second behind host Chico State, which racked up 257 points to claim a sixth straight CCAA title. Cal Poly Pomona finished third with 130 points, followed by Cal State Stanislaus (115), Humboldt State (84) and Cal State L.A. (63). The Triton men also finished second in 2006 on their home track.
“Things went extremely well for us considering it rained for two days constantly during the meet,” men's head coach Tony Salerno said. “Our people really stepped up and we are very, very pleased with the results.”
Linda Rainwater kicked off a big day for the UCSD women, winning the high jump with a leap of 5'5.25”, while Kelly Fogarty had strong performance in the sprints, placing first the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.01 and second in the 200 at 24.32. Christine Merrill took home the conference title in the 400 meter with a time of 56.22.
After posting a school record time in the 100 meter hurdle prelims (13.64), senior Laiah Blue won the event with a time of 13.94 in the finals. Merrill finished third at 14.30 and Rainwater placed fourth with a mark of 14.53.
Merrill placed first in the 400 hurdles with a time of 61.13, followed by teammates Blue (61.47), Katie Skorupa (63.53) and Deyna Roberson (64.99) as UCSD claimed the top four spots in the event.
Merrill, Blue, Fogarty, and Skorupa brought home another victory for the Tritons in the women's 4x100 relay at 46.92, while the 4x400 unit of Skorupa, Roberson, Blue, and Anna Lee McGregor also placed first with a time of 3:50.93.
Freshman Nick Howe started the day off on the right foot for the men, winning the javelin throw with a toss of 189'10”. Casey Ryan took home a conference championship in the high jump with a leap of 6'9.75”, while Scott Tsuda won the triple jump for the third year in a row with a mark of 48'9”.
Leon Baham was a double-winner in both hurdle events, clocking in at 14.58 in the 110 and 53.24 in the 400. Both marks were good enough for NCAA provisional qualifiers.
When the final awards were handed out, Merrill was named the women's MVP, Darcy Ahner took home Coach of the Year accolades for the second straight year, and Howe was named the CCAA Freshman of the Year on the men's side.
The Tritons will compete in the Occidental Invitational Saturday, May 9 in their final tune-up before the NCAA Championships May 21-23 in San Angelo, Texas.
