SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's track & field team took second at the 2024 Big West Championships Saturday at Miller & Capriotti Athletics Complex.
 
The Anteaters (120) were only 10.75 points behind team champion Cal Poly (130.75). It was their best conference finish since 1996 when they also claimed runner-up honors.
 
For the second year in a row, Jolie Robinson was named The Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Meet. Robinson scored 22 points as she defended her title in the heptathlon before placing second in the long jump and fifth in the javelin.
 
On Saturday, Kailah McKenzie became UCI's first Big West women's high jump champion since Hall of Famer Lauren Collins in 2009. On her third and final attempt, McKenzie cleared her winning height of 1.76 meters (5-9.25). It was the freshman's second podium finish of the weekend as she also took third in the long jump on Friday.
 
Deandra Tyler and Emily Hutchinson of CSUN both threw for a meet-best 14.83 meters (48-8) in the shot put. The tiebreaker came down to their second best throw of the day with Hutchinson (14.67m) edging Tyler (14.63m) on her last throw of the competition.
 
Nyla Baker also made her way onto the podium, coming in third with a personal-record 14.69m (48-2.5). Baker moved up two spots to No. 4 in program history.
 
Tyler added four points in the hammer throw, finishing fifth with a toss of 53.74m (176-3), while DeAna Davis notched a lifetime-best 53.52m (175-7), which ranks seventh among UCI's all-time leaders.
 
On the track, the 'Eaters put up 18 points in the 800m final. Malia Gay led the way, claiming runner-up honors with a time of 2:10.58. She was at the front of the pack on the bell lap before Cal Poly's Tatiana Cornejo made her move over the final 100m to edge Gay by .06 seconds.
 
Emilie Castagna, who is a member of the Big West Champion UC Irvine women's soccer team, took fourth in 2:12.09. Castagna joined the track & field program in April. Alexis Alexander (2:13.79) and Kaia Schmidt (2:15.07), were also sixth and seventh, respectively.
 
The Anteaters picked up nine points in the 100m hurdles. Reyna Johnson ran a personal-record 13.82 to finish fourth overall. Her time ranks sixth in school history. Jazzmine Davis added a fifth-place showing with a time of 13.91.
 
Johnson also teamed up with Hallena Sutherland, Samantha Bartz and Aryel Coats to take fourth in the 4x100 relay (45.89). Sutherland came back later in the day to finish seventh in the 100m final with a wind-aided 11.77.
 
Anna Vogtmann scored in the 1500m, placing sixth overall in Saturday's final. Vogtmann crossed the finish line in 4:32.30.
 
Jazzmine Davis, Mia Marquez, Malia Gay and Lauren Aquino closed out the meet with a season-best 3:44.29 for a fourth-place showing in the 4x400 relay.