Steve Scott Invitational
Dates: April 26-27 (Friday-Saturday)
Location: Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Tickets // Live Results // Meet Program // Meet Info

Ticket Prices
Adults - $10
Youth (17 & under) - $5
UCI Students - Free with I.D.

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's track & field team will welcome over 900 athletes to Anteater Stadium for the Steve Scott Invitational, April 26-27. It is the team's final tune-up before the Big West Championships.
 
The meet gets underway Friday with the pole vault at 1 p.m. The hammer throw, javelin, long jump, steeplechase and 5000m will also be contested on the first day of competition. A busy afternoon is then set for Saturday, starting with the 4x100 relay at 12 p.m. The field events begin shortly after with the shot put at 12:15 p.m.
 
On Saturday, the 'Eaters will be holding an alumni reunion, while they will also recognize their seniors, Elizabeth Akindele, Hope Bushnell, Barbara Coward, Bryn Hyde, Adrienne Lee, Megan Mirkhanian, Hallie Pullum and Julia Sambvani, in a ceremony scheduled to start at approximately 5:45 p.m.
 
STORYLINES
• Senior Barbara Coward broke her own school records in the hammer (196-02) and discus (186-04) this year.
• She has earned three Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week awards - March 5, March 12 and April 17.
• Last week, freshman Hannah Chau ran UCI's sixth-fastest time in her first career 10K, clocking in at 35:50.29.
• Freshman Lorraine Nance also posted a top-10 mark in the triple jump at the Beach Invitational with a PR 38-08.75.
• Freshman Zani Meaders ranks eighth in program history in the 400m with a lifetime-best 55.68.
• Junior Anastasia Karnaze's steeple time of 10:58.72 at the Big West Challenge puts her fourth among UCI's leaders.
• In total, the 2019 Anteaters have produced 10 marks that rank among the top-10 in school history.
• All of UC Irvine's regular-season meets have taken place in Southern California.
• The only time the 'Eaters will travel 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.
• UC Irvine has a good mix of experience and youth with 21 returners and 18 newcomers.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Hannah Chau kicked off a busy week with a fifth-place finish in the 10000-meter at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
• Her time of 35:50.29 in her first career 10K ranks sixth in school history and is the best mark by an 'Eater since 2001.
• At the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in Long Beach, junior Imani Jones notched a wind-aided PR of 14.29 in the 100H.
• Sophomore Mikayla Scott also placed 10th in the 200m, clocking in at 25.16 while running into a 2.1 m/s headwind.
• UCI wrapped up its week at LBSU's Beach Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
• Lorraine Nance had one of the highlights of the weekend, registering a personal-record 38-08.75 in the triple jump.
• That mark puts her at No. 7 on UC Irvine's all-time charts.
• Barbara Coward had another impressive performance in the discus, finishing ninth out of 97 competitors (181-09).
 
DOUBLE THREAT
• Barbara Coward has continued to rewrite the record books, bettering her own standards in the hammer and discus.
• Two weekends ago at the Triton Invitational, she broke her own UCI discus record with a lifetime-best 186-04.
• That mark ranks first in the Big West, eighth in the West Region and 11th in all of NCAA Division I.
• In her season debut at the Beach Opener, Coward also established a program-best 196-02 in the hammer throw.
• Her PR has held as the top distance in the conference and is still among the top-30 in the West Region.
• Coward earned the first two Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week awards of the 2019 campaign.
• She added her third weekly honor of the season, and sixth of her career, on April 17.
• The Atwater, Calif., native has combined for four individual victories in seven hammer and discus competitions.
 
MORE FROM THE THROWERS
• Junior Brianna Villanueva has provided a solid 1-2 punch behind Coward in the discus and hammer.
• She established multiple PRs in both events and owns 11 top-five finishes 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 and Big West Challenge.
 
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.
• She saw an improvement in her next outing at the Jim Bush Legends Invitational, running 55.68 to finish second.
• 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 broke the 400m school record (55.78), while ranking sixth in the 200m (25.36).
 
LAST HURRAH
• Senior Hope Bushnell is looking 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 event win 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 in the 5000m and 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 Break Collegiate Classic.
• Brenda Dorantes was not far behind in third with a time of 17:51.34.
• Anastasia Karnaze also notched a Big West qualifier in the steeplechase (11:10.17).
• Karnaze went on to improve her time with a personal-best 10:58.72 at the Big West Challenge.
• Theologidy added a season-best and conference qualifying mark of 11:29.48 in the steeple.
• Hannah Chau joined the group of qualifiers in her outdoor debut, running a 5000m season-best 17:30.70 at UCLA.
 
UP NEXT
• The Big West Championships kick off with the heptathlon in Santa Barbara, May 3-4.
• The main events of the conference meet will also be held in Santa Barbara, May 10-11.