UC Irvine to Compete in Bryan Clay Multis, Fullerton Friday Night Lights

Thursday, April 10

Azusa, Calif.

11:00 AM

UC Irvine

Bryan Clay Multis

UC Irvine to Compete in Bryan Clay Multis, Fullerton Friday Night Lights

April 09, 2025 | Women's Track & Field

Bryan Clay Live Results Friday Night Lights Live Results Meet Notes

at Bryan Clay Multis
Date: Thursday-Friday (April 10-11)
Location: Cougar Stadium - Azusa, Calif.
Meet Info & Schedule

at Fullerton Friday Night Lights
Date: Friday, April 11
Location: Titan Track Complex - Fullerton, Calif.
Meet Info & Schedule

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's track & field has three student-athletes entered in the Bryan Clay Multis at Azusa Pacific's Cougar Stadium, April 10-11, while the rest of the squad will head to Fullerton for the Friday Night Lights meet on Friday, April 11.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine traveled south to La Jolla for the Triton Invitational last weekend. Malia Gay highlighted the meet with an individual victory in the 800m. Gay ran a personal-record 2:06.21 to top the field of 68. Luz Mercado was also the runner-up in a lifetime-best 2:06.96. Their times rank third and fifth, respectively, in program history. Halle Sutherland clocked a wind-legal PR 11.61 to come in third in the 100m. She saw a .02 second improvement on her No. 3 time in school history. Reyna Johnson added a personal-record 13.75 in the 100m hurdles to move up one spot to No. 5 on UCI's all-time charts. For the second week in a row, Nyla Baker set a personal best in the shot put with a toss of 15.53m (50-11.5), which is third among the Anteater leaders.

EVENT SQUAD RANKINGS
UC Irvine held onto the top spot in the long jump (6.18m/20-3.25) in the USTFCCCA's Event Squad Rankings released on April 8. In the high jump (1.72m/5-7.75), the Anteaters dropped one spot to No. 2 in the nation behind only Nebraska. UCI is also among the top-15 in the country in the steeplechase (8th), shot put (12th) and 100m hurdles (15th). The rankings average out the season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four athletes on the national descending order list.

THE BIG THREE
In the long jump, senior Reyna Johnson, sophomore Kailah McKenzie and senior Jolie Robinson rank 1-2-3 in The Big West and are among the top-20 in the West Region. Johnson leads the way with a wind-aided personal-record 6.34m (20-9.75), which she established at the Vince O'Boyle Classic on March 28. McKenzie is right behind Johnson with a PR 6.33m (20-9.25) that she set in a victory at the Challenge Cup on March 15. Johnson and McKenzie are eighth and ninth in the nation, respectively. Robinson also notched a PR 6.19m (20-3.75) in her first long jump competition of the outdoor campaign at the UCR Spring Classic on March 22.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Juniors Zharia Taylor and Esmeray Demirbas both cleared a personal-record 1.79 meters (5-10.5) in the high jump at the Challenge Cup on March 15. Taylor did not miss at her first five heights to finish first, while Demirbas claimed runner-up honors. The UCI duo lead the Big West and are tied for 14th in the nation this season, while they are also tied for second among the Anteaters' all-time leaders.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Reyna Johnson was named the Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week on April 1. Johnson was recognized for her effort in the long jump at the Vince O'Boyle Classic. She surpassed 20 feet on her first three attempts, and registered a wind-aided PR 6.34m/20-9.75 (+2.7) on her final jump in Flight 3. Her distance ranks first in The Big West, eighth in the West Region and 12th in the nation. Johnson also ran a personal-record 13.79 in the 100m hurdles. One week later at the Triton Invitational, the Sacramento native shaved .04 seconds off that PR with a time of 13.75 to move up one spot to No. 5 in school history.

BACK-TO-BACK
Kailah McKenzie won back-to-back Big West Women's Field Athlete of the Week honors on March 11 and March 18. McKenzie earned her first award of the season following a high jump victory where she cleared 1.76 meters (5-9.25) at the Beach Opener. The following week, the 2024 Big West Women's Freshman of the Year was recognized for her winning long jump mark of 6.33m (20-9.25) at the Challenge Cup. McKenzie's distance is 15th in all of NCAA Division I and was the Anteaters' best wind-legal leap since 1983, moving her up to No. 2 in school history.

LETTING IT FLY
Junior Nyla Baker has four individual victories this season. Baker won the discus at the Ben Brown Invitational, Challenge Cup and UCR Spring Classic, while she took first in the shot put at the Vince O'Boyle Classic. This season, Baker has established personal bests in the shot put (15.53m/50-11.5) and discus (49.85m/163-6) which rank third and seventh, respectively, on UCI's all-time charts. Junior DeAna Davis also claimed the title in the hammer throw at the Ben Brown Invite and UCR Spring Classic. She notched a PR 57.65m (189-1) in a runner-up showing at the VOB Classic, which puts her second in school history. Freshman Pinkie Schnayer has added two wins in the shot put including at the Challenge Cup where she hit a lifetime-best 14.74m (48-4.5) to rank fourth in program history.

GOING THE DISTANCE
Seniors Malia Gay and Luz Mercado went 1-2 in the 800m at the Challenge Cup and Triton Invitational. In the latter meet, Gay (2:06.21) and Mercado (2:06.96) both established personal bests that rank among the top-five in school history. Their times are also first and second in The Big West and put them in the top-25 in the West Region. In her first career steeplechase, sophomore Kaia Schmidt finished ahead of the pack in 10:50.78 at the Beach Opener. Schmidt's time ranks sixth in program history. She also won the 1500m at the Challenge Cup (4:28.54) and the 5000m at the Mangrum Invitational (16:56.08).

ANTEATER SPEEDSTERS
Sophomore Halle Sutherland won the 100m in a wind-legal personal-best 11.63 seconds at the Challenge Cup. Sutherland bettered her time at the Triton Invitational where she crossed the finish line in 11.61. She ranks second in The Big West this season and moved up one spot to No. 3 in program history. Junior Samantha Bartz added a PR 11.77 in the 100m at the Vince O'Boyle Classic to rank seventh among UCI's all-time leaders. In the 400m hurdles, Esmeray Demirbas' lifetime-best 58.88 ranks third in school history, and puts her second in the conference in 2025.

UP NEXT
UCI has a busy week ahead with the Bryan Clay Invitational (April 16-18), Mt. SAC Relays (April 17-19), Pacific Coast Intercollegiate (April 17) and Beach Invitational (April 18-19).