Anteaters Claim Three Individual Big West Titles on Saturday
May 13, 2017 | Men's Track & Field
FULLERTON, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's track & field team had six all-conference performances, including three individual titles, on the second and final day of the Big West Championships Saturday at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Track Complex.
"It was a great meet for us," UCI head coach Jeff Perkins said. "It has become a much more challenging meet all around from every team's standpoint, so our team finish probably isn't what we expected in terms of what we wanted to do, but from an individual standpoint we performed very well. We had a decent number of conference champions and we're right in the hunt, we just need to get more depth."
Senior Lloyd Sicard successfully defended his title in the 110-meter hurdles, putting him in elite company as just the third three-time 110H champion in Big West history. He was the only competitor to finish under the 14-second mark all weekend, clocking in with a wind-legal season-best 13.61. That was just .01 seconds off the meet record and his own school record. Sicard will move on to the NCAA West Preliminary Round where he looks to qualify for his third consecutive NCAA Championship meet.
"The quality Lloyd and Megan (George) have above anyone else is that they know how to compete," Perkins said. "It might not look pretty, or be the best race ever, but they know how to compete to win and they've had that in their blood probably since they were kids running in club track. They go out there and always find a way to get the job done. I'm very proud of both of them."
Sophomore Isaiah Jewett continued his dominance in the 800m, claiming his first conference title of his young career. Jewett did not run his fastest race of the season, but won comfortably as he finished in 1:49.96, nearly two seconds ahead of the runner-up. The Inglewood, Calif., native was the Anteaters' first 800m champion since former All-American and Olympian Charles Jock in 2012.
"Last year I was a 400m runner," Jewett told Fox Prime Ticket following his victory. "My coach and I are still trying to figure out my race strategy so I can run that perfect race. We know I'm better than this, so we'll just keep pushing forward."
Sicard and Jewett also teamed up with sophomore Paul Resong and senior Brandon Howard to close out the meet with an impressive victory in the 4x400 relay. The quartet continued to improve on their Big West-leading time, shaving over one second off their season best at 3:09.19. Sicard started strong on the opening leg, while Resong and Howard kept the 'Eaters at the front of the pack. Jewett then pulled away on the final lap to secure UC Irvine's first win in the event in five years.
Freshman Evan Singletary, Sicard, Howard and freshman Jordan Gibson opened the track events on championship Saturday with a runner-up finish in the 4x100. They notched a season-best 40.62.
Howard earned All-Big West honors in the 400m hurdles for the second consecutive year as he took second at 52.56. Freshman Andres Woodruff added three points in the event with a sixth-place showing and personal-record 54.18.
Also scoring on the track were Singletary in the 100m (5th), Resong in the 400m (7th) and freshman Hector Garcia in the 1500m (7th).
Senior Matt Seawright continued to anchor the Anteaters' effort in the field events with his second All-Big West award of the meet. After finishing third in the discus with a season-best 180-08 on Friday, Seawright claimed runner-up honors in the hammer on Saturday. He opened with a solid throw of 202-01.50, which was the top mark of the competition until the conference leader James Hubbard (LBSU) passed him in the final round of Flight 2. Seawright responded with a personal-best 210-11 in the finals, but he was unable to catch Hubbard. He ranks third in program history.
UCI finished seventh in the team standings with 75 points. Host Cal State Fullerton (133 points) won its first-ever Big West title, dethroning four-time defending champion Long Beach State in the process.
UC Irvine will now send its qualified athletes (top-48 in the West Region) to the NCAA West Preliminary in Austin, Texas, May 25-27.
Men's Team Results
1. Cal State Fullerton - 133
2. Cal Poly - 128
3. Long Beach State - 121
4. UC Santa Barbara - 117
5. CSUN - 106
6. UC Davis - 80
7. UC Irvine - 75
8. UC Riverside - 58
