Anteaters Set to Compete at UCLA This Weekend

Friday, March 29

Los Angeles, CA

4:30 PM PT

UC Irvine

Bob Larsen Distance Carnival

natalie-ewe-2019-wtrack-uci-spring-classic

Anteaters Set to Compete at UCLA This Weekend

March 28, 2019 | Women's Track & Field

Bob Larsen Distance Carnival
Date: Friday, March 29
Time: 4:30 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Drake Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Results // Meet Schedule // Meet Info

Jim Bush Legends Invitational
Date: Saturday, March 30
Time: 11:30 a.m. (PDT)
Location: Drake Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Results // Meet Schedule // Meet Info

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's track & field team is set to compete in the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival (March 29) and Jim Bush Legends Invitational (March 30) at UCLA's Drake Stadium this weekend.

On Friday, the hammer throwers are slated to kick things off at 4:30 p.m., while the distance runners will be under the lights, starting with the 5000m at 5:30 p.m. The rest of the squad will be in action on Saturday, beginning with the shot put at 11:30 a.m. The track events then get underway with the 4x100 relay at 2:30 p.m.

STORYLINES
• Senior Barbara Coward earned back-to-back Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week nods on March 5 and 12.
• At the Beach Opener, she won the discus and hammer, while breaking her own school record in the latter event.
• Coward was also the hammer champion and runner-up in the discus at the Ben Brown Invitational (March 8).
• She has missed the last two meets with an injury.
• All of UCI's regular-season meets will take place in Southern California.
• The only time UCI travels outside of the region is for NCAA postseason competition.
• The NCAA West Prelims are in Sacramento, while the NCAA Championships will be held in Austin, Texas.
• The 'Eaters have a good mix of experience and youth with 21 returners and 18 newcomers.
• Of their 21 returners, 10 have already etched their names in the program's record book.
• Coward leads the way as the school record holder in the discus (180-08) and hammer (196-02).

LAST TIME OUT
• The Anteaters had a strong outing at the UC Riverside Spring Track Classic last weekend.
• Hope Bushnell won the 100m for the second time in as many meets, finishing ahead of the pack in 11.93 seconds.
• Julia Sambvani (62.65) took third in her first 400m hurdle race of the season.
• Cecily Montanez added a season-best 64.94 to come in fifth.
• Mikayla Scott, Zani Meaders, Destiny Whitaker and Sambvani claimed runner-up honors in the 4x400 relay (3:47.94).
• Brianna Villanueva finished third in the hammer (164-09) and fourth in the discus (153-07).
• Adrienne Lee matched her season-best of 11-03.75 to place fourth in the pole vault.

HAMMER TIME
• Barbara Coward earned the first two Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week awards of the 2019 campaign.
• Coward kicked off the outdoor season by taking home both the hammer and discus titles at the Beach Opener.
• She started the meet by breaking her own school record in the hammer with a toss of 196-02.
• The Atwater, Calif., native topped her previous best by nearly four feet.
• Coward also finished ahead of the pack by over 10 feet in the discus (156-06).
• One week later, she notched a season-best 175-06 in a runner-up performance at the Ben Brown Invitational.
• She added her second-straight individual victory in the hammer at 187-04.
• Both of Coward's season-best marks rank first in the Big West and are among the top-40 in all of NCAA Division I.

MORE FROM THE THROWERS
• Junior Brianna Villanueva has provided a solid 1-2 punch behind Coward in the discus and hammer.
• She has already established multiple PRs in both events and finished no lower than fifth in three meets this year.
• Villanueva ranks fifth in school history in the hammer throw (178-05) and seventh in the discus (157-07).
• Freshman Tayla Crenshaw added a lifetime-best 158-02 in the hammer to come in at No. 9 on UCI's all-time charts.
• Senior Elizabeth Akindele won the shot put at the Ben Brown Invitational with a season-best 45-03.75.

FRESHMAN PHENOM
• In her first collegiate outdoor meet, freshman Zani Meaders etched her name among UCI's elite 400m runners.
• Meaders won the 400 by over a second at the UC Irvine Spring Break Collegiate Classic with a time of 55.74.
• That mark puts the Chino Hills native at No. 8 in school history.
• Meaders is only the third Anteater in the last six years to crack the program's all-time top-10 in the 400m.
• During the indoor campaign, she also broke the 400m school record (55.78), while ranking sixth in the 200m (25.36).

LAST HURRAH
• Senior Hope Bushnell looks to improve on a pair of top-three marks in school history in her final campaign.
• Last year, she ran the Anteaters' second-fastest 200m (24.03) and third-fastest 100m (11.76).
• In her 2019 outdoor debut, Bushnell swept the short sprints with impressive early season marks of 11.88 and 24.37.
• She added another individual victory in the 100m at the UC Riverside Spring Track Classic.
• The Upland, Calif., native is a two-time All-Big West performer.

BIG WEST DISTANCE QUALIFIERS
• Last year, UC Irvine's distance squad combined for two Big West qualifying marks (5000m, Steeplechase).
• In just the second meet of 2019, the 'Eaters bettered that total with three qualifying times.
• Mariah Theologidy clocked in at 17:46.58 to finish second in the 5000m at the UCI Spring Collegiate Classic.
• Brenda Dorantes was not far behind in third with a time of 17:51.34.
• Anastasia Karnaze also notched a Big West qualifying time in the steeplechase (11:10.17).

UP NEXT
• UC Irvine travels to Santa Barbara for the annual Big West Challenge on Friday, April 5.
• The meet will be held at UCSB's Pauley Track Facility, which is also the site of the 2019 Big West Championships.