SPOKANE, Wash. - The UC Irvine women's indoor track & field team kicked off the 2023 MPSF Championships Friday at The Podium.
 
The Anteaters picked up 11 of their 18 points in the 5000-meter run. Sophomore Sameen Andar led the way with a personal-best 16:37.63 to place third overall. Andar saw a 29-second improvement to surpass teammate Hannah Chau for the top spot in the school record book. Chau also cracked the 17-minute mark for the first time in her indoor career, clocking in at 16:49.65 to finish fourth.
 
Sophomore Reyna Johnson advanced to tomorrow's 60m hurdle final after coming in seventh in the prelims (8.85). Junior Amari Fraser missed out on the final qualifying spot by .01 seconds as she took ninth (8.87). Johnson also competed in the long jump on Friday, placing among the top-10 at 17-06.75.
 
Sophomore Deandra Tyler earned four points for the Anteaters with a fifth-place showing in the weight throw. Tyler beat her personal record by a half inch with a toss of 54-10, which ranks fourth on UCI's all-time charts. Freshmen DeAna Davis and Sydney Gontang both had marks of 45-01 in their MPSF debut. It was a lifetime best for Gontang.
 
UC Irvine's distance medley relay squad also put points on the board after closing out the day with a sixth-place finish. Cathy Salazar-Gasca, Sienna Frederiksen, Alexis Alexander and Anna Vogtmann combined for the program's second-best time at 11:52.30. They were just shy of the school record that was set at last year's MPSF Championships.
 
Junior Aryel Coats and freshman Samantha Bartz both had top-20 performances in a field of 41 athletes in the 200m. Coats was 15th at 25.07 seconds, while Bartz was 18th (25.25). Freshman Alana Odom added a personal-best 25.50, which is tied for 10th in program history.
 
A trio of 'Eaters competed in the pentathlon and all three established lifetime bests that rank among UCI's all-time top-10. Junior Shaelyn Amos led the way with 2,821 points. She notched PRs in the 60m hurdles (9.76), high jump (4-11), shot put (33-05.75) and long jump (14-11.5).
 
In her first pentathlon, sophomore Laura Sangiacomo registered 2,758 points, while junior Chaselyn Amos finished with 2,745 points.
 
UC Irvine, which is currently sixth, will look to move up in the team standings tomorrow on the second and final day of the MPSF Indoor Track & Field Championships.