LA JOLLA, Calif. - Both of the UC San Diego men's and women's track and field teams took first at the San Diego Collegiate Challenge at Triton Track & Field Stadium on Saturday.
The meet was highlighted by Nash Howe, who got an automatic qualifier and won the javelin with a season-best throw of 222'2" on his fourth and final toss. (Watch it here.) The two-time All-American thus became the first Triton to book a trip to the 2015 NCAA Division II Championships in Allendale, Mich., in May. It will mark a third appearance for the senior at the national meet, as one of three automatic men's entrants nationally thus far in all events. Howe is second in Division II and third with Division I marks included. On Saturday, that last throw enabled him to overtake Navy All-American Jay Stell (219'8"), who was third at the 2014 NCAA Division I Championships.
In the women's high jump, Devon Brook (5'7"), Veronica Bradley (5'2.25"), Taylor Eljenholm (5'2.25") and Kristen Daugherty (5'0.25") took the first four spots, respectively. Brook's winning mark of 5'7" improved her existing provisional qualifier. Raymond Silver won the men's high jump and became the first Division II student-athlete around the country to achieve a provisional mark in the event, hitting it on the spot with a leap of 6'8.25".
In the women's pole vault, Chrissi Carr and Megan Benham wound up in a tie for fifth, and seventh, respectively, but Carr improved her provisional mark to a personal-record 12'5.5", while Benham achieved hers at 11'11.75". Carr also thus moved up into a tie for No. 2 all-time at UCSD, now just half an inch off Donna LeFever's standard. She has the top mark in Division II.
Senior Clint Rosser earned his provisional qualifier in the pole vault at 15'11", good for a fourth-place finish behind a Navy trio that was led by Jiles Maness' program-record height of 17'4.5", the top mark thus far in Division I. Maness topped Mark Vetere (16'10.75") while wrestling the school standard from his teammate.
Ellexi Snover (137'7") and Haley Libuit (130'9") placed first and second in the javelin on the women's side. Snover also took third in the 200 with a time of 25.52.
Jared Senese (1:54.34), Terrence Luevano (1:55.83), Connor Macky (1:57.16) and Daniel Hauptman (1:58.06) placed first, second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 800. Hauptman won the 1500 earlier in the day, crossing the line in 3:58.66.
The Tritons also took the top spots in the women's 800, with Ella Verhees (2:18.83), Raelene deArmas (2:21.03), Selena Friedman (2:21.77) and Lauren Coomber (2:23.93) going 1-4.
Macky, Senese, Derek Van de Streek and Sam Ozenbaugh teamed up and won the men's 4x400 relay finishing in 3:19.81. In the women's 4x400 relay, Sabrina Pimentel, Jackie Chalmers, Marisa Padilla and Snover took care of business and won the race coming in at 3:48.57.
Tanner Collins and Daniel Franz went 1-2 in the 5000 with times of 15:10.99 and a personal-record 15:18.25, respectively. Corinne Hinkle (17:33.73) and Paige Hughes (personal-best 17:37.07) took second and third, respectively, in the women's 5000.
As a team, the Triton men scored 212 points to win, with Navy coming in second at 172 and San Diego Mesa College in third with 74. The women's team competition was much closer, but UCSD edged out San Diego State, 197-181, to take home the crown. Point Loma came in third with 90 points.
"It was an overall great team effort across event groups," said women's head coach Darcy Ahner. "We are very excited to win at home against both Navy and San Diego State, who are two very good Division I teams."
UCSD will have next weekend off from competition as they take final exams this week, before staying nearby for the two-day Aztec Invitational from March 27-28. The hammer throw portion of the event will be held on the morning of March 27 at the UCSD throwing field adjacent to Triton Track & Field Stadium.
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