California Irvine Athletics

The UC Irvine women's outdoor track & field team was on the rise for several years, building up to the ultimate goal of winning the program's first Big West Championship. In a complete team performance, that goal came to fruition last season. The Anteaters cemented their spot in history with their first conference title, but are now hungry for more.
 
UCI returns 19 conference scorers who combined for 103.5 of the team's 2025 winning point total of 150.5. Among that group of returnees is also an All-American and seven NCAA West First Round qualifiers.
 
"Our women's team has all the tools to be as successful as they were a year ago," head coach Jeff Perkins said. "It will come down to consistency and keeping everyone healthy. It should be a great year for them."
 
The 'Eaters are set to start the outdoor season at the Beach Opener in Long Beach, March 6-7. They have two home meets on the schedule with the Vince O'Boyle Track & Field Classic (March 27-28), and the Steve Scott Invitational (May 1-2). Anteater Stadium will also serve as host to the Big West Multi-Event Championships, May 8-9.
 
Below is a breakdown of each event group as UC Irvine prepares for its season opener next weekend.
 
 
MULTIS
UC Irvine returns all three of its heptathletes in seniors Jolie Robinson, Jazzmine Davis, and Zharia Taylor, while bringing in highly-touted freshman Joy Anderson. Robinson, who won the Big West heptathlon title in 2023 and 2024, claimed runner-up honors last year. Davis also finished fifth. Robinson (5,524) and Davis (5,368) both set personal bests that rank second and third in school history, respectively. An injury kept Taylor from competing in the multis during the outdoor campaign after an impressive indoor season in which she was fourth in the pentathlon at the MPSF Championships. Anderson joins the trio from Long Beach Poly High School.
 
JUMPS
The Anteaters have built an impressive contingent in the jumps where they scored 23.5 points at the 2025 Big West Championships. UCI welcomes back all three of its conference scorers in the high jump - senior Zharia Taylor (2nd), senior Esmeray Demirbas (3rd), and junior Kailah McKenzie (T4th). The trio also qualified for the NCAA West First Round. Taylor went on to the NCAA Championships where she earned second-team All-America honors. McKenzie and senior Jolie Robinson also competed in the long jump at the NCAA regional meet. Expected to contribute right away to the group this year are freshmen Joy Anderson and Jessie Condliff. Anderson was a two-time CIF State Championship finalist in the high jump, while Condliff was the Canyon Crest Academy school record holder and a Nike Outdoor Nationals qualifier in the pole vault.
 
THROWS
UC Irvine returns its four Big West scorers in the throwing events from a year ago. DeAna Davis is back for her senior season after claiming runner-up honors in the hammer at the conference meet. Davis set a personal-record 57.65m (189-1) that ranks second in school history and earned her a spot in the NCAA West First Round. Senior Nyla Baker scored in both the discus (4th) and shot put (6th). Sophomore Pinkie Schnayer added a fourth-place showing in the shot put. Heptathlete Jolie Robinson was also the Anteaters' top javelin thrower, coming in third at the Big West Championships. This year, she will be joined by newcomer Giselle Rodriguez, who transferred from Butte College where she set a lifetime-best 46.23m (151-8).
 
SPRINTS & HURDLES
UCI's top-two sprinters from a year ago are ready to make their return to the track in 2026. Junior Halle Sutherland is second in program history in the 200m and third in the 100m, while she is a conference scorer in both events. Senior Samantha Bartz is also fourth on UC Irvine's all-time charts in the 100m and 200m. Graduate transfer Aoife Hernon will add depth to the sprints group in the 400m. Reigning Big West champion Jazzmine Davis and conference runner-up Esmeray Demirbas are back in the 400m hurdles. They both qualified for the NCAA West First Round and rank among the Anteaters' all-time top three. Davis is also third in school history in the 100H.
 
DISTANCE
The distance crew, which scored 40 points in last year's Big West Championship run, took the biggest hit with the graduation of Luz Mercado and Malia Gay, but have several veteran leaders primed to anchor a young and talented group. Junior Kaia Schmidt is a returning conference scorer after tying for second in the steeplechase and placing fifth in the 5000m. This season, Schmidt will be joined by junior transfer Emma Hadley, who spent the last two seasons at Colorado. Hadley is a local product out of Canyon High School in Anaheim where she was a CIF State Championship qualifier and three-time league champion in the 1600m. The 'Eaters also welcome back seniors Makena Castillo and Nicole Contreras, who were Big West finalists in the 1500m.