Big West Championships
Dates: Friday-Saturday (May 12-13)
Location: Titan Track Complex - Fullerton, Calif.
Championship Central

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine makes its way to Cal State Fullerton's Titan Track Complex this weekend for the Big West Championships, May 12-13. The field events will get underway at 10 a.m. on both days, while action on the track is set for a 2:20 p.m. start on Friday and a 1 p.m. start on Saturday. The track events will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Bryan Fenley and Tom Feuer on the call.
 
STARTING LINE
• UC Irvine heads into the weekend with 10 team points after Jolie Robinson won the Big West heptathlon, May 5-6.
• UCI has 28 student-athletes entered in 18 events.
• Sixteen current 'Eaters hold 27 marks that rank among the top-10 in program history with 22 being set in 2023.
• Sameen Andar broke a 37-year old school record in the 5000m with a time of 16:13.12 at the Steve Scott Invite.
• Andar also ran the Anteaters' second-fastest 10K (33:34.13) at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
• Hannah Chau topped her own standard in the steeplechase with a PR 10:20.11 at the UCSB Invitational.
• Deandra Tyler established top-10 marks in the shot put (3rd) and hammer (6th) this year.
• Tyler was named the Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week on March 7 and March 28.
• Reyna Johnson became the third Anteater to reach the 20-foot mark in the long jump at the Beach Invite (20-01).
• Amari Fraser clocked the 10th-best time in both the 100H (14.02) and 400H (60.71).
• Robinson also owns multiple top-10 marks, entering the ranks in the heptathlon, long jump and javelin.
 
HEAD START
Sophomore Jolie Robinson became the Anteaters' first Big West heptathlon champion since 2007 as she won the event with a personal-record 5,343 points last weekend. Her score ranks fifth in program history. Robinson was third at the conclusion of Day 1, but took the lead after putting up the top marks of the competition in the long jump (5.96m) and javelin where she registered a lifetime-best 42.63 meters. The Mission Viejo native did more than enough in the final event, clocking an 800m PR 2:28.89 to claim the title. Chaselyn Amos was also 11th overall with a personal-best 4,375 points, while Shaelyn Amos (4,209) and Laura Sangiacomo (3,975) were 14th and 17th, respectively.
 
BIG WEST REWIND
Last year, the 'Eaters had their first top-three finish at the Big West Championships since 2014. They had eight podium finishes and compiled 101 points to place third behind Long Beach State and Hawai'i. In 2023, they bring back over 75% of their scoring including six all-conference performers. UCI is looking for its first conference title as it has a high finish of second on six occasions, with its last runner-up showing coming in 1996.
 
MAKING A MARK
In her first year at UC Irvine, Jolie Robinson has already established top-10 marks in the long jump, javelin and heptathlon. Her Big West-winning heptathlon score of 5,343 points puts her fifth among the Anteaters' all-time leaders. At the Big West multi-event championships, Robinson also unleashed a lifetime-best 42.63m (139-10) in the javelin to rank seventh in school history. In addition, she climbed to No. 4 on the program's all-time charts at 5.97m (19-7) in a third-place finish in the long jump at the Steve Scott Invitational. Prior to her arrival at UCI, Robinson was the 2022 CCCAA state champion in all three events at Saddleback College.
 
ELITE COMPANY
Sophomore Reyna Johnson had a big personal record in the long jump at the Beach Invitational on April 15. After fouling on her first attempt, Johnson registered a leap of 6.12m (20-1), which stood as the fourth-best of the meet and third among collegiate athletes. Her Big West-leading mark also moved her up three spots to No. 3 on UCI's all-time charts. Johnson is the third Anteater in program history, and first since Marieke Veltman's school-record 21-0.5 in 1992, to reach the 20-foot mark. Johnson, a Big West scorer in two events last year, also won the long jump at the Challenge Cup on April 7 (19-2.75).
 
BREAKING BARRIERS
Graduate student Hannah Chau picked up right where she left off in 2022 after closing out last season with a school record and runner-up finish in her second career steeplechase at the Big West Championships. In her 2023 steeple debut at the UCSB Invitational on March 11, Chau shattered her own record with a personal-best 10:20.11. She won the event by a 40-second margin and had the fastest time in The Big West since 2016.
 
GOING THE DISTANCE
Sophomore distance runner Sameen Andar ran a 23-second personal best to break a 37-year old school record in the 5000m on the first day of the Steve Scott Invitational (April 28). Her time of 16:13.12 topped All-American Beth McGrann's standard of 16:16.30 that stood since 1986. At the Bryan Clay Invitational, Andar won Section 2 of the 10,000m in 33:34.13, which ranks second in program history. Both of her times are third in The Big West this season. Overall, the distance crew is solid across the board, returning all of its team-high 31 points from last year's conference meet. Chau (Steeple, 10K) and sophomore Anna Vogtmann (1500m) were 2022 All-Big West performers, while Andar, Montgomery Allison and Olivia Liuson were also conference scorers.

DOUBLE CHAMP
Senior Amari Fraser was a double champion at the Battle in the OC on Thursday, April 20. Fraser started the evening in the 100m hurdles where she came in ahead of the pack in 14.10 seconds. Just over an hour later, she clocked a personal-record 60.71 to win the 400m hurdles. Two weeks ago at the Steve Scott Invitational, Fraser ran a lifetime-best 14.02 in the 100H. Both of her hurdle PRs rank 10th in program history. Fraser also teamed up with Mia Marquez, Lauren Aquino and Alexis Alexander to record UCI's fourth-fastest 4x400 relay at 3:43.21 on April 15. Last year, Fraser accounted for 16 points at the Big West Championships, running the opening leg on the third-place 4x400, while placing fifth in both the 100H and 400H.
 
800 SPEED
Junior Alexis Alexander and sophomore Malia Gay have joined graduate student Emma McCarthy among UC Irvine's all-time leaders in the 800m. At the Steve Scott Invitational, Alexander ran a lifetime-best 2:09.09 to climb to No. 6 on UCI's all-time charts. Gay is also ninth in program history after registering a PR 2:09.37, which was the top time in a field of 144 athletes in the 800m Open at the Bryan Clay Invitational. McCarthy was the Big West runner-up in 2022 when she ran the Anteaters' seventh-fastest 800m at 2:09.17. In 2023, the 'Eaters have put up four of the top-10 marks in the conference with Alexander and Gay ranking second and third, respectively. McCarthy (2:11.03) is also sixth, while Cathy Salazar-Gasca (2:11.06) is seventh.
 
TWICE AS NICE
Junior Deandra Tyler won two of the first four Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week awards. On March 28, she was recognized for a pair of top-five finishes at UCLA's Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational, highlighted by a runner-up performance in the shot put with a then personal-record 14.99m (49-2.25). The Atascadero, California, native earned her first career weekly honor on March 7 after taking first in the hammer throw and second in the shot put at the Beach Opener. Two weeks ago, Tyler earned her fifth shot put victory of the season at the Steve Scott Invitational where she unleashed a lifetime-best and Big West-leading 15.27m (50-5.5), which ranks third in program history. She also won the event at the Battle in the OC, Challenge Cup, UCSB Invitational and Vince O'Boyle Classic. At the Beach Invite, Tyler registered a lifetime-best 53.45m (175-4) in the hammer to move up one spot to No. 6 among UCI's all-time top-10.
 
MORE FROM THE THROWS
In addition to Tyler, the throws squad has combined for five more marks that rank among the top-10 in school history. In the shot put, junior Cassious Fiaui (43-4.25) is ninth, while freshmen Nadia Combs-Mahone (43-3) and Nyla Baker (43-3) are tied for 10th. Baker also owns the 10th-best throw in the discus at 151-2, and freshman DeAna Davis is eighth in the hammer at 167-6.
 
UP NEXT
The top-48 declared athletes in each individual and relay event will compete in the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in Sacramento, May 24-27.