Ben Brown Invitational
Dates: March 8-9, 2019 (Friday-Saturday)
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Titan Track Complex - Fullerton, Calif.
Live Results // Schedule // Meet Program

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IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's track & field team continues the outdoor season this weekend as it makes the short trek to Fullerton for the Ben Brown Invitational, March 8-9. The Anteaters will be traveling a small group with six athletes entered in four different field events.
 
Cassidy Arias, Barbara Coward, Tayla Crenshaw and Brianna Villanueva will open the meet for the 'Eaters in the hammer throw Friday at 1:30 p.m. The same four will also be competing in the discus (1 p.m.) on Saturday, and will be joined by Adrienne Lee in the pole vault (3 p.m.) and Elizabeth Akindele in the shot put (3:30 p.m.).
 
STORYLINES
• Senior Barbara Coward was named the Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week on March 5.
• At the Beach Opener, she won the discus and hammer, while breaking her own school record in the latter event.
• This is the third year in a row the Anteaters will be competing in the Ben Brown Invitational.
• 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 22 returners and 19 newcomers.
• Of their 22 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).
 
HAMMER TIME
• Barbara Coward earned the first Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week honor of the 2019 campaign.
• Coward kicked off the outdoor season by taking home 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.
• She topped her previous best by nearly four feet, and beat out the runner-up by eight feet.
• The Atwater, Calif., native also finished ahead of the pack by over 10 feet in the discus at 156-06.
• Both of Coward's marks rank first in all of NCAA Division I after the first week of outdoor competition.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• UC Irvine had 12 top-10 finishes at the Beach Opener last weekend.
• In addition to Coward's two individual titles, Brianna Villanueva was third in the discus and fourth in the hammer.
• Freshman Tayla Crenshaw made her collegiate debut, coming in ninth in the hammer at 147-00.
• Elizabeth Akindele (42-10.75) and Crenshaw (39-08) were fourth and sixth, respectively, in the shot put.
• Natalie Koppel took fourth out of 39 runners in the 100m with a wind-aided 12.45.
• Iyana Cooksey (14.80w) and Imani Jones (14.87w) both placed among the top-five in the 100m hurdles.
• Brenda Dorantes led four Anteaters in the 3000m, clocking in at 10:26.54, which was good for seventh overall.
• Davina Pham added a seventh-place showing in the 400m.
 
SPRINTS/HURDLES
• Senior Hope Bushnell ranks among the top-three in school history in the 100m (11.76) and 200m (24.03).
• She finished third in the 200m at the 2018 Big West Championships to earn all-conference honors.
• Sophomore Mikayla Scott was a work horse at last year's Big West meet, scoring in the 100m, 200m and 4x400.
• Bushnell, Scott and senior Julia Sambvani were also part of the 4x100 relay that qualified for the NCAA West Prelims.
 
THROWS
• Barbara Coward was the Big West champion in the discus and runner-up in the hammer in 2018.
• She is a three-time NCAA West Prelim qualifier in the discus, while also advancing to regionals in the HT last year.
• Junior Brianna Villanueva has made huge strides as she sits among UCI's top-10 in the discus and hammer.
• Senior Elizabeth Akindele was a 2018 All-Big West performer with a third-place finish in the shot put.
• Akindele is currently fourth in school history with a lifetime-best 47-01.
 
JUMPS
• Last year, sophomore Natalie Koppel became the first 'Eater to reach the 19-foot mark in the long jump since 2011.
• She ranks third in program history with a personal-record 19-05.5.
• Junior Tatyana Hamlett saw big improvements in 2018 with lifetime bests in the LJ (17-06.25) and TJ (37-05.75).
 
DISTANCE
• Freshmen Hannah Chau and Natalie Ewe look to continue the success they saw during the cross country season.
• UCI also has a solid returning group in Anastasia Karnaze, Brenda Dorantes, Keely Boyd and Megan Mirkhanian.
 
UP NEXT
The 'Eaters will host the UC Irvine Collegiate Classic at Anteater Stadium, March 15-16.