SEATTLE – Senior Brianna Villanueva highlighted a handful of strong performances for the UC Irvine women's indoor track & field team on the first day of the MPSF Championships Friday at Dempsey Indoor.
 
In the weight throw, Villanueva threw for over 51 feet on each of her three attempts in Flight 2. She had her best mark on her final toss where she hit 57-08.5. That put her at No. 4 in her flight and seventh overall to advance to the finals.
 
Villanueva did not see an improvement in the final rounds, coming in eighth. She was the top performer among Big West schools. Villanueva placed in the top-10 in all four indoor meets this season.
 
Sophomore Tayla Crenshaw also established a personal-best 52-00.5 on her second attempt of the afternoon (18th). She ranks fifth in program history. 
 
Senior Mychal Robinson recorded a time of 8.58 in the 60m hurdle prelims to finish 12th in a field of 30 competitors. Robinson was back in action less than 30 minutes later, registering a personal-best 7.98 in the 60m. 
 
Sophomore Hannah Chau made her 5000m indoor debut, crossing the finish line with a time of 17:03.13 to place fourth in her heat and 20th overall. 
 
In the long jump, sophomore Lorraine Nance was 23rd at 16-02.50.
 
UC Irvine returns to Dempsey Indoor tomorrow for the second and final day of the MPSF Championships. Action gets underway with the shot put at 10:30 a.m.