Complete Results



IRVINE, Calif. - Junior Barbara Coward and senior Persis William-Mensah each broke a school record to highlight a number of impressive performances at Friday's Big West Challenge at Anteater Stadium.
 
Coward started the day off with a huge personal record and first-place finish in the hammer throw. On her final attempt of the competition, Coward unleashed a toss of 187-07, which beat her previous best by over 10 feet. She also overtook the top spot in program history, passing Bridget Devaney's then record of 182-05 (2016).
 
Coward returned to action a couple hours later and claimed her second victory of the day as she finished ahead of the pack in the discus with a season-best 169-03. She has now won back-to-back-to-back titles at the Big West Challenge.
 
For the fourth year in a row, William-Mensah set a new program record in the 100m, running a wind-legal lifetime-best 11.51. She earned runner-up honors, finishing just .01 seconds behind Courtne' Davis of Long Beach State. This was William-Mensah's second 100m race of the season.
 
Senior Alison Meegan made a statement in her season debut, coming in second in the hammer behind Coward at 180-08. That mark ranks third in school history and shattered her old personal best by 24 feet, 11 inches. Sophomore Brianna Villanueva added a PR 157-00 to rank eighth on UCI's all-time charts.
 
Villanueva also notched a career-best 155-08 for a third-place showing in the discus.
 
Junior Adrienne Lee recorded her third lifetime best in as many meets, clearing 11-11.75 to place sixth. She continued to move up in the school record books as she is now tied for fourth.
 
Junior Elizabeth Akindele claimed silver in the shot put at 45-10.
 
On the track, junior Hope Bushnell established a personal-record 24.03 in the 200m where she was third overall. She ranks second in program history behind only William-Mensah (23.88). Bushnell also had a wind-legal lifetime-best 11.76 in the 100m (4th), moving her up one spot into a tie for fourth among UC Irvine's all-time leaders.
 
Freshman Mikayla Scott added season bests in the 100m (11.95) and 200m (24.53), where she placed sixth and fourth, respectively. Scott's 11.95 in the 100m ranks 10th in school history.
 
Junior Julia Sambvani was the runner-up in the 400m hurdles, clocking in with a lifetime-best 62.07. Sophomore Cecily Montanez also registered a season-best 66.76, and senior Simone Buchanan took fourth in the 400m with a season-best 55.51.
 
Bushnell, William-Mensah, Sambvani and Scott teamed up to win the 4x100 relay in a season-best 45.05 seconds.
 
Junior Megan Mirkhanian led the 'Eaters in the 3000m where she finished fifth with a personal-record 10:22.90. Sophomore Keely Boyd also scored as she came in eighth (10:26.64).
 
Sophomore Anastasia Karnaze was fourth in the steeplechase (11:06.08), while Iyana Cooksey was sixth in the 100m hurdles (15.02).
 
UC Santa Barbara defended its team title with 185 points. Long Beach State was second (180.5), Cal State Fullerton was third (171.5) and UC Irvine was fourth (118).
 
UCI will be back in action next weekend when it makes its way to La Jolla for the UCSD Triton Invitational, April 13-14.