IRVINE, Calif. - For the second time this season, graduate student Kayla Richardson has been named the Big West Women's Track Athlete of the Week the conference office announced Wednesday afternoon.
 
Richardson was recognized for her performance at the OC Dual where she led the Anteaters to a 75-63 win over Cal State Fullerton. The Walnut, Calif., native was a double champion in the 100m and 200m, while also running the anchor leg on the first-place 4x400 relay.
 
In the 200m, Richardson clocked a season-best 23.94 to finish ahead of the field by over one second. Her time is tops in the Big West this season, and ranks second among UCI's all-time leaders. She joined 2016 Olympian Persis William-Mensah as the only two 'Eaters in school history to run a sub-24 second race.
 
Richardson also matched her season best in the 100m at 11.80, which is tops in the conference and fifth in program history. She went on to close out the meet with a 54.7 split to lift UC Irvine to an eight-second win and a season-best 3:49.71 in the 4x400.
 
Richardson is the first Anteater to win multiple weekly awards in a season since Barbara Coward in 2019, and the first to earn multiple Women's Track Athlete of the Week honors since Amber Middleton in 2012.
 
UCI is back in action this weekend at the UC Riverside Distance/Sprints Invitational, April 29-30, and the LBSU Throws/Jumps Fest, April 30-May 1.