Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational
Date: Friday-Saturday, Jan. 24-25
Time: 3 p.m. (PST) / 9:30 a.m. (PST)
Location: Albuquerque Convention Center - Albuquerque, N.M.
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IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's indoor track & field team makes its way to Albuquerque, N.M., this weekend for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational (Jan. 24-25). The two-day meet begins Friday with the weight throw, long jump and high jump at 3 p.m. (PT). The 200m, 600m and 3000m will also be contested on the first day of competition. A full day of action is then slated for Saturday, starting with the shot put at 8 a.m. (PT). The track events will then commence at 9 a.m. (PT) with the 60m hurdle qualifying round.
 
STORYLINES
• UC Irvine has 21 student-athletes entered in 14 events at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational.
• The meet will be held at the Albuqeruque Convention Center, which is the site of the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships.
• Nine Anteaters are set to make their indoor season debuts this weekend.
• After traveling to the same four indoor meets over the last five seasons, UCI has switched it up in 2020.
• For the first time since 2014, the 'Eaters started the campaign at the UW Preview in Seattle.
• They will also compete in the New Mexico Collegiate Classic for the first time since 2012.
• UC Irvine returns 17 individuals from last year's roster, but only nine competed in an indoor meet.
• The Anteaters also bring in 16 newcomers, including 13 true freshmen.
• Seven 'Eaters established eight marks that rank among the program's all-time top-10 at the UW Indoor Preview.
 
THROWS
• Senior Brianna Villanueva entered the 2020 campaign ranked second in the weight throw with a then PR 56-01.
• At the season-opening UW Preview, she improved her lifetime best by two feet with a toss of 58-01.25.
• She was only three inches shy of the school record set by former teammate Barbara Coward last year.
• In the shot put, senior Elizabeth Akindele ranks third in program history with a personal-best 45-10.5.
• Sophomore Tayla Crenshaw had a best of 37-05.75 in her indoor debut last weekend, putting her at No. 10 at UCI.
 
SPRINTS/HURDLES
• Sophomore Zani Meaders broke the Anteaters' indoor 400m record last year with a personal-record 55.78.
• Meaders established her top mark at the 2019 MPSF Championships where she was 10th out of 47 competitors.
• The Chino Hills, Calif., native wasn't far off her PR at the UW Preview with a time of 56.02 seconds.
• Junior Sha'Maya Flanagan also ran UCI's seventh-fastest 400m time in her first meet as an 'Eater (57.45).
• Flanagan sat out the 2019 season after transferring from Arizona State where she notched a lifetime-best 55.04.
• Senior Mychal Robinson ranks third in school history in the 60m hurdles (8.61).
 
JUMPS
• UC Irvine has three jumpers who rank among the top-10 in program history.
• Sophomore Lorraine Nance recorded UCI's fourth-best indoor triple jump mark at 38-01.25 last year.
• Senior Je'Neal Ainsworth came in at No. 10 in her Anteater debut with a leap of 36-02.25 at the UW Preview.
• Ainsworth is a graduate transfer from San Diego State where she established a personal-record 40-11.5.
• Junior Natalie Koppel is also No. 7 in school history in the long jump (17-11.75).
 
DISTANCE
• Freshman Tess Mathes highlighted the mid-distance events for the 'Eaters at the UW Preview.
• Mathes made her way into the program's all-time top-10 in the 600m (1:40.94) and 800m (2:18.24).
• Sophomore Hannah Chau also ran UC Irvine's ninth-fastest mile last weekend, clocking in at 5:10.87.
• In the fall, Chau finished fifth at the Big West Cross Country Championships to earn all-conference honors.
 
UP NEXT
• UC Irvine will return to Albuquerque for the New Mexico Collegiate Classic, Feb. 7-8.