COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Seniors Malia Gay and Jazzmine Davis advanced to the quarterfinals in their respective events to highlight the UC Irvine women's track & field team's first day of the NCAA West First Round Thursday at E.B. Cushing Stadium.
 
Gay ran a personal-record 2:05.72 in the 800m. She made a late push to finish third in her heat and earn an automatic qualifier into Saturday's quarterfinal round. Gay was 18th overall, beating out her seed coming into the meet by 17 spots. Her time also puts her at No. 2 in program history.
 
Davis will move onto Saturday's quarterfinal action in the 400m hurdles. The Big West champion, who was seeded 30th, ran her second-fastest 400H race of the season at 58.66 to place 24th overall. She earned the sixth and final time qualifier. Earlier in the evening, Davis placed 35th in the 100m hurdles. Despite running into a slight headwind, she clocked a wind-legal personal-best 13.53. Davis saw a .13 second improvement on her No. 3 time in school history.  
 
Junior Esmeray Demirbas wasn't far behind in the 400m hurdles, coming in 29th (58.96). Demirbas, an All-Big West performer in the 400H and high jump, will be back in action in the latter event on Saturday.
 
Graduate student Luz Mercado finished 37th in the 800m with a time of 2:09.16. Mercado is the 2025 Big West 800m champion, while her PR of 2:06.96, which she set at the Triton Invitational, is fifth all-time at UCI.
 
Sophomore Kailah McKenzie led a trio of 'Eaters in the long jump where she placed 33rd overall. McKenzie surpassed 19 feet on all three attempts with a best of 19-10.25 (6.05 meters). She will be back in action in the high jump on Saturday.
 
Seniors Jolie Robinson (5.78m/18-11.75) and Reyna Johnson (5.77m/18-11.25) were 42nd and 44th, respectively. Robinson, who was an All-Big West performer in the heptathlon and javelin, qualified for her first regional meet in the long jump with a lifetime-best 6.19m (20-3.75), which ranks fourth in program history. Johnson, who was making her second career NCAA appearance, closes out her career among the Anteaters' top-five with a personal-record 6.14m (20-1.75).
 
Junior DeAna Davis opened the hammer competition with her best throw of the day at 54.30 meters (178-2). Davis finished ninth in her flight and 42nd overall in her NCAA debut. She was the Big West runner-up and established a personal-best 57.65m (189-1) earlier in the season to rank second in school history.
 
Junior Nyla Baker was 44th in the shot put with a toss of 13.90m (45-7.25). Baker qualified for her first NCAA regional with a lifetime-best 15.53m (50-11.5), which ranks third on UCI's all-time charts.
 
The UC Irvine women's track & field team will close out the NCAA West First Round at E.B. Cushing Stadium on Saturday, May 31.