SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The UC San Diego track and field team opened its 2021 season at the 42
nd Annual Aztec Invitational, hosted by San Diego State. The hammer competition was held on Friday, Mar. 26, while the rest of the field and track events took place on Saturday, Mar. 27. Competing against some of the top teams in the country, UC San Diego got its first taste at the Division I level.
Overall, in the 20 events scored, the men came in sixth place (74) above UC Berkeley and Loyola Marymount, while the women finished in eight place (29.50) ahead of Air Force, UCLA, and Big West foe Cal State Fullerton.
INSIDE THE MEET
MEN:
Top Performances Overall:
- Discus Throw
- Senior Blake Walkowiak tossed a discus 167'9", placing him third overall and tallying six points.
- 110-meter hurdles
- Sophomore Kalobe Jimenez, dashed passed the line in 14.78 seconds, scoring two points and placing seventh overall.
- 5000-meter run
- Sophomore Gabriel Reuter achieved eight points for UC San Diego with an impressive second place finish, crossing the line in 14:56.29.
- Four other Tritons trailed within seconds of one another including freshman Andrew Schulz, graduate student Jack Frimodig, junior Marcos Milla, and freshman Zeno Castiglioni, all adding points to the Tritons' total.
Top Scoring Performances:
- 3000-meter steeplechase
- Junior Brad Nelson finished second, scoring eight points with a time of 10:19.24.
- 400-meter hurdles
- Senior Josef Polk, collected four points with a quick 55.71-second display, good for fifth overall.
- 400-meter dash
- Junior Maximilian Halvax earned fifth, good for four points, courtesy of his 48.30 second mark.
- High Jump
- Triple Jump
- Freshman Zavier Annis' 43'10.5" put four more points up for the blue and gold.
- Shot Put
- Senior Devin Lecakes-Jones scored three points on his 50'9.5" mark, a sixth place showing overall.
WOMEN:
Top Scoring Performances:
- 3000-meter steeplechase
- Junior Sidney Hendricks (11:39.29) and sophomore Leila Keyvan (11:57.08) went back-to-back, two-three, for eight and six points respectively.
- 400-meter hurdles
- Junior Megan Mattson notched three points with her 1:04.46 time as sophomore teammate Gloria Kalt followed closely behind at 1:04.98.
- 4x400 relay
- UC San Diego's 'A' squad of junior Ellie Flint, Mencarelli, Kalt, and senior Mckenna Meaney contributed three points altogether after exhibiting a 4:22.44 performance.
- 110-meter dash
- Senior Jenna Mencarelli scored a pair of points after a 12.42 second production.
- Triple Jump
- Sophomore Elyse Nordheim racked up an additional three points with her sixth place mark of 38'0.25".
RESULTS
Click here for the complete results (PDF).
QUOTABLE
"We had some great performances against some top PAC-12 teams today," said Men's Head Coach
Tony Salerno. "Most teams are well into their seasons. It was a pretty challenging opener for us to say the least but even after a year off for us, our athletes really stepped up. They were very excited to get back into competition and it showed."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Jimenez's performance in the 110 hurdles, against a real challenging field, puts him ninth all-time in the Triton record books.
- It was the Tritons first time competing in 384 days following the season cancelation in 2020.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will head to UC Riverside for a meet on Friday, April 2 in Riverside, Calif. For the full track and field schedule, click
here. More events will be added as they are confirmed.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
Return To Sport… Safely
In order for UC San Diego scholar-athletes to be permitted to return to training and competition safely and within federal, state, local and university guidelines, the athletic department implemented a number of measures designed to complement and enhance the university's highly-successful Return To Learn program. Notable actions include being physically distanced when practical, including during out-of-season training sessions; wearing masks, except when undergoing physically strenuous exercise; and maintaining proper hygiene. Athletes, coaches and staff are testing at a higher frequency than the campus population, teams adhere to CDC, NCAA and Big West Conference guidelines and department officials participate in regular meetings with conference and university-affiliated physicians and the UC San Diego emergency operations staff.
