Big West Challenge
Date: Friday, April 5
Time: 12 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Pauley Track Facility - Santa Barbara, Calif.
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IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's track & field team makes its way to Santa Barbara for the 27th annual Big West Challenge at UCSB's Pauley Track Facility on Friday, April 5. The Anteaters will square off against the host Gauchos, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State.
 
The one-day meet kicks off with the field events, starting with the hammer throw at 12 p.m. Action on the track is set to get underway at 5 p.m. with the 4x100 relay. UCI has 27 individuals entered in 17 events.
 
STORYLINES
• This is the first time UC Santa Barbara will be hosting the Big West Challenge since 2007.
• 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 missed two meets with an injury before returning to action in the discus at the Jim Bush Legends 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 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 competed in UCLA's Bob Larsen Distance Carnival and Jim Bush Legends Invitational last weekend.
• Freshman Hannah Chau ran the team's fastest 5000m of the season at 17:30.70 in her outdoor collegiate debut.
• Classmate Natalie Ewe established a season-best 4:36.99 to place fifth in the 1500m Invite.
• Junior Anastasia Karnaze came in 10th in the 3000m steeplechase with a season-best 11:08.08.
• Freshman Zani Meaders led the sprinters with a runner-up finish in the 400m where she notched a PR 55.68.
• Sophomore Mikayla Scott added a lifetime-best 56.31, which was good for fifth place.
• Senior Hope Bushnell posted a top-10 finish in both the 200m (3rd) and 100m (8th).
• Senior Adrienne Lee matched her personal best in the pole vault, clearing 11-11.75.
• Sophomore Hanna Coloma also established a personal-record 37-11.5 in the triple jump.
 
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-bests rank first in the Big West and are among the top-25 in the NCAA West Region.
 
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.
• She saw an improvement in her next outing at the Jim Bush Legends Invitational, running a 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 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).
• Hannah Chau joined the group in her outdoor debut, running a 5000m season-best 17:30.70 at UCLA.
 
UP NEXT
• UC Irvine heads south to La Jolla for the Triton Invitational, April 12-13.