at Challenge Cup
Date: Friday, March 15
Time: 3:15 p.m.
Location: Titan Track Complex - Fullerton, Calif.
Meet Schedule

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's track & field team is back in Fullerton for the Challenge Cup on Friday, March 15. The Anteaters will compete against Big West foes Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and host Cal State Fullerton. The women's field events get underway with the hammer throw at 3:15 p.m., while action on the track is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start. Forty-four Anteaters are entered in 20 events.
 
QUICK HITS
• UCI has won the Challenge Cup four times with its last title coming in 2009.
• In her collegiate outdoor debut last Saturday, freshman Kailah McKenzie won the high jump with a PR of 1.76 meters (5-9.25).
• Her clearance ranks third in program history.
• Deandra Tyler won the shot put at the Beach Opener and Ben Brown Invitational.
• Jolie Robinson (Heptathlon) & Sameen Andar (10K) are the reigning Big West champions in their respective events.
• Robinson was named the 2023 Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Year and Field Athlete of the Meet.
• Andar qualified for the NCAA First Round where she clocked a 10K personal-record 33:20.89.
• Reyna Johnson also advanced to the 2023 NCAA First Round in the long jump.
 
BIG TIME DEBUT
Freshman Kailah McKenzie won the high jump in her outdoor collegiate debut at the Ben Brown Invitational. McKenzie did not miss at her first four heights, ultimately clearing a personal-record 1.76 meters (5-9.25) to rank third in program history. She added a third-place showing (second among collegiate athletes) in the long jump at 5.66m (18-7).
 
TWO FOR TWO
Senior Deandra Tyler is unbeaten in her first two shot put competitions. At the Beach Opener, she was first out of 31 with a toss of 15.25m (50-0.5). The following weekend at the Ben Brown Invitational, Tyler recorded a season-best 15.33m (50-3.5) to top the leaderboard in a field of 35 throwers. She added a lifetime-best 53.51m (175-6) in the hammer. Tyler is a three-time all-conference performer in the shot put and was the Big West runner-up in each of the last two seasons.
 
TOP-TEN START
Sophomore Nyla Baker set personal bests and top-10 marks in both the shot put and discus at the Beach Opener on March 2. Baker ranks sixth in the shot put at 13.89m (45-7) and 10th in the discus at 47.55m (156-0). At the same meet, sophomore DeAna Davis established a PR 53.32m (174-11) in the hammer, which puts her seventh among UCI's all-time leaders.
 
GOING THE DISTANCE
Junior Sameen Andar is UC Irvine's top returner in the distance events. She is the reigning Big West champion in the 10K and was third in the 5K last season. Andar, who broke a 37-year-old 5K school record (16:13.12) last season, opened the 2024 campaign with a time of 16:20.76 in a fourth-place showing at the Ben Brown Invitational. Junior Malia Gay also earned 2023 All-Big West honors in the 800m, while classmate Anna Vogtmann scored in the 1500m after claiming runner-up honors in 2022.
 
MULTIS DEPTH
UC Irvine returns the 2023 Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Year in junior Jolie Robinson. Robinson won the conference title in the heptathlon, while also finishing second in the long jump and seventh in the javelin at the Big West meet last season. She ranks among the top-10 in program history in all three events. UCI also brings in junior Jazzmine Davis in the multis. As a sophomore at Cerritos College, Davis was the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association state champion in the heptathlon.
 
OUT OF THE BLOCKS
Senior Mia Marquez leads the sprinters after scoring in the 400m at the 2023 Big West Championships. She ran a personal-record 55.52 in the conference finals to move up to No. 6 in program history. Senior Alexis Alexander was also fourth in the 800m at last year's Big West meet and ranks sixth in school history, while freshman Hallena Sutherland is coming off an impressive indoor season in the short sprints.
 
AT A GLANCE
The Anteaters welcome back 35 letterwinners from last year's team that finished fourth at the Big West Championships. They return nearly 70% of their conference scoring from 2023, including both of their Big West champions in Jolie Robinson (Heptathlon) and Sameen Andar (10K). UCI also brings in 18 newcomers who will add depth to the already solid foundation that has been built.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will send its heptathletes to the UC Riverside Multis, March 21-22, while the rest of the squad will travel to San Diego for the Aztec Invitational, March 22-23.