Anteaters Continue Outdoor Season at UCSB Invitational

Wednesday, March 8

Santa Barbara, Calif.

12:30 PM

UC Irvine

UCSB Invitational Multis

Anteaters Continue Outdoor Season at UCSB Invitational

March 07, 2023 | Women's Track & Field

Live Results (Multis)Live Results Meet Notes

at UCSB Invitational
Date: March 8-10 (Wednesday-Friday)
Location: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Meet Schedule

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's track & field team makes its way to Santa Barbara this week for the UCSB Gaucho Invitational, March 8-10. The meet gets underway with the heptathlon on Wednesday (12:30 p.m.) and Thursday (1 p.m.), while the individual events are slated for a 9:30 a.m. start on Friday.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine kicked off the 2023 outdoor campaign with two event wins at the Beach Opener, March 3-4. Deandra Tyler unleashed a personal-record 173-08 to take first in the hammer throw. Her 15-foot improvement moved her up three spots to No. 7 in program history. Cathy Salazar-Gasca also finished ahead of the pack in a 1500m field of 56 athletes. She clocked a lifetime-best 4:34.30, while Hannah Chau was right on her heels in second with a PR 4:34.61. Malia Gay claimed runner-up honors in the 800m (2:12.66). Jolie Robinson was third overall, and the top collegiate finisher in the long jump. Robinson's personal-beset 19-01.25 ranks eighth in program history.

ON THE RISE
The 'Eaters are coming off their first top-three finish at the Big West Championships since 2014. Last year they had eight podium finishes and compiled 101 points. In 2023, they bring back over 75% of their scoring including six all-conference performers.

"We are coming off a fourth-place finish two years ago and a third-place finish last year, so the goal is third or better," said head coach Jeff Perkins. "It is definitely about depth which we now have. I think just getting locked in and pushing ourselves beyond what we even think is possible is what our holistic focus should be, and will be, as coaches and as a team."

DISTANCE
The distance crew returns all of its team-high 31 points from last year's Big West Championship meet. Fifth-year senior Hannah Chau leads the group as a three-time all-conference performer in outdoor track & field. Last year, she was the runner-up in her second career steeplechase where she ran a school-record 10:28.19, while placing third in the 10K just four hours later. Sophomore Anna Vogtmann also took second in the 1500m, while classmates Sameen Andar, Montgomery Allison and Olivia Liuson put points on the board as well.

THROWS
UC Irvine has a young but talented group in the throws, led by junior Deandra Tyler. Tyler was the Big West runner-up in the shot put a year ago. She enters the 2023 campaign ranked fourth in program history in the shot put and 10th in the hammer. Junior Cassious Fiaui also returns, while the rest of the seven-member crew is comprised of freshmen including Nyla Baker, Nadia Combs-Mahone, Sydney Gontang and DeAna Davis who all have the potential to be conference scorers.

SPRINTS & HURDLES
Junior Amari Fraser and sophomore Reyna Johnson will lead the way in the hurdles. Fraser was fourth in the Big West in both the 100H and 400H in 2022, while Johnson took fifth in the 100H. Freshman Lauren Thai, a high school state finalist in both hurdle events, is expected to add depth as well. In the sprints, juniors Mia Marquez (400m) and Aryel Coats (100m, 200m) are set to anchor a young group that has been bolstered by the addition of incoming freshmen Lauren Aquino, Samantha Bartz, Sienna Frederiksen and Alana Odom. The 'Eaters will also be strong in the 800m with the return of graduate student Emma McCarthy and junior Alexis Alexander. McCarthy was the conference runner-up last year and is coming off an indoor season in which she broke the 600m and 800m school records.

JUMPS & MULTIS
In addition to their duties in the sprints and hurdles, Reyna Johnson and Aryel Coats are back in the long jump. Johnson was seventh in the event at the conference meet a year ago. The Anteaters also welcome the addition of freshmen Jackie Acosta (long jump/triple jump), Naiya Edwards (high jump) and Lauren Thai (long jump), along with sophomore transfer Jolie Robinson. Robinson, who broke UCI's indoor school record in the long jump on Jan. 27, was the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association state champion in the heptathlon at Saddleback College. She will be joined by juniors Chaselyn Amos, Shaelyn Amos and Laura Sangiacomo in the multis.

NEWS & NOTES
• UC Irvine is set to compete in the UCSB Invitational for the second year in a row.
• UCI will host two meets with the Vince O'Boyle Classic (March 31-April 1) and Steve Scott Invitational (April 28-29).
• Nine current 'Eaters hold 14 marks that rank among the top-10 in program history.
• Hannah Chau leads the way with a school-record 10:28.19 in the steeplechase.
• Anna Vogtmann also ran the Anteaters' second-fastest 5K last year at 16:32.93.

UP NEXT
The Anteaters return to action next Saturday, March 18, at the Ross and Sharon Irwin Invitational in San Diego.