SAN DIEGO — The UC San Diego track and field team continues to improve as the season progresses, with the program combining to set 53 new personal bests over the weekend at the Aztec Invitational. The Tritons also broke five program records and won nine events.
 
The competition was hosted by San Diego State. The Tritons and Aztecs were joined on Friday and Saturday by fellow Division I schools Army, BYU, San Diego and Washington.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons won six track events and three field events. The first two came on Friday night during the distance portion of the meet. Charlie Frank won the men's 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:14.86, and Nathan Garderes won the men's 5000m in a school-record time of 14:10.57.
 
On Saturday the field squad won two jump events. Tamara Aimufia jumped 5.93m (19' 5½") to win the women's long jump before Miles Bennett cleared a height of 2.07m (6' 9½") to claim the victory in men's high jump.
 
The final field event victory came in women's shot put. Feyi Olukanni won with a personal-best distance of 14.80m (48' 6 ¾"). That is the second-best mark in program history and leads The Big West so far this season.
 
Anthony Flowers swept the men's 100m and 200m to get the sprints squad off to a strong start. The sophomore ran the 100m in 10.41 and finished the 200m with a time of 21.07.
 
The Triton women also had a pair of wins on the track to close out the competition. Amari Jenkins nearly went sub-one minute in the women's 400m hurdles, winning the event with a time of 1:00.29. The weekend then concluded with the Tritons winning the women's 4x400m relay as Lauren Schiele, Jenkins, Rachel Aguilar and Jordyn Thomas combined for a winning time 3:43.37.
 
Sylvana Northrop broke her third school record in as many meets on Friday night. All three have come in different events. This time the senior took on the women's 1500m, taking fifth with a time of 4:22.52. Northrop has the best result in the event in The Big West this season and is sixth in the NCAA West Region.
 
Also repeating as school record holders was the men's 4x100m team, who beat their own mark that was set two weeks ago at the Ben Brown Invite. Brycen Tablit, Anthony Flowers, Kian Maher and Brandon Orlow finished second on Saturday with a time of 40.32.
 
Freshman Zach Lewis had a strong weekend for the Tritons in men's discus and shot put. His distance of 54.66m (179' 4") in the discus was good for second in the event and broke the program record. Lewis also finished second in the shot put event with a mark of 17.50m (57' 5"), which is second-best all-time at UC San Diego.
 
In addition to his relay record, Maher set an individual school record in the men's 400m. The junior finished second in the event with a time of 47.36.
 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will split up this week to compete in two different events. Some of the team will head to the Lone Star State for the Texas Relays Wednesday-Sunday, while the rest will stay closer to home and compete on Friday at the Mangrum Invitational, hosted by Cal State San Marcos.
 
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 began a new era in 2020 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 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned 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.