'Eaters Make Their Way to Long Beach for Big West Championships

Friday, May 15

Long Beach, CA

10:30 AM

UC Irvine

Big West Championships

Kaia Schmidt in stride behind two other runners in a 1500-meter race

'Eaters Make Their Way to Long Beach for Big West Championships

May 13, 2026 | Women's Track & Field

Live Results

Big West Championships
Date: Friday-Saturday (May 15-16)
Location: Jack Rose Track - Long Beach, Calif.
Championship Central

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's track & field will look to defend its conference title when it makes the short trip to Long Beach for the 2026 Big West Championships at Jack Rose Track, May 15-16.

BIG WEST REWIND
In 2025, the Anteaters won the first Big West Women's Track & Field Championship in school history. They scored 150.5 points to edge Cal Poly (149) by 1.5 points for the team title. Eight 'Eaters combined for 12 All-Big West honors with a top-three finish in the individual events. UCI's 4x100 relay also had a runner-up showing. Jazzmine Davis was named the Big West Women's Track Athlete of the Meet after podium finishes in the 400H (1st), 100H (3rd), and 4x100 relay (2nd), while also scoring in the heptathlon (5th).

HEAD START
UC Irvine scored 29 points in the heptathlon at the Big West Multi-Event Championships in Irvine last weekend. All four Anteaters set personal bests to finish first through fourth. Freshman Joy Anderson was the Big West champion, shattering her own school record with 5,740 points. Senior Jolie Robinson claimed runner-up honors with a 123-point lifetime-best 5,647. It was her fourth-straight top-two showing in the Big West heptathlon as she took home the title in 2023 and 2024, and also placed second in 2025. Senior Jazzmine Davis made her way onto the podium in third with 5,532 points, and Zharia Taylor was fourth with 5,384 points. Anderson's score ranks 10th in all of NCAA Division I this season, while Robinson is 17th. The top-24 will qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June. In the school record books, Anderson is first, Robinson is second, Davis is fourth, and Taylor is fifth.

HERNON IS HER
Graduate transfer Aoife Hernon broke UC Irvine's 400m record twice during the outdoor season. On April 10, she won the event at the Challenge Cup in 54.05 to beat Shelly Tochluk's 54.32 that stood as the top mark at UCI since 1991. One week later, Hernon broke her own record with a time of 53.88 at the Mt. SAC Relays. It was the Anteaters' first sub-54-second race. Hernon also owns the best indoor 400m in program history at 54.23, which she clocked at the Battle Born Classic in Reno, Nevada, on Feb. 14.

SPRINTING TO THE TOP
Senior Samantha Bartz broke the 100-meter school record at the Pacific Coast Invitational on April 16. Bartz was the runner-up in a field of 85 sprinters with a lifetime-best 11.43. She shaved .17 seconds off her PR and topped UC Irvine's previous standard of 11.48 that was set by Olympian Persis William-Mensah in 2018. Bartz also registered the Anteaters' fourth-fastest 200m (23.87) at the Steve Scott Invitational. In addition to Bartz's and Hernon's performances, the 'Eaters have established seven other marks that rank among the program's all-time leaders in the sprints and hurdles this year. Junior transfer Catalina Teran is second in the 200m (23.61), fifth in the 100m (11.64), and seventh in the 400m (55.32). Freshman Joy Anderson also cracked the top-10 in multiple events, ranking sixth in the 200m (23.98) and eighth in the 100m hurdles (13.89). Rounding out the group with top-10 times in 2026 are senior Jazzmine Davis in the 100H (2nd, 13.36) and junior Ihe Okoh in the 400m (4th, 54.86).

DISTANCE DUO
Juniors Kaia Schmidt and Emma Hadley have led UCI's distance crew in 2026. Schmidt set a PR in both of her steeplechase victories this year, most recently running a school-record 10:16.88 at the Triton Invitational (April 3). Her time ranks first in the Big West and 28th in the West Region. Hadley leads the 'Eaters in the 800m (6th, 2:07.65) and 1500m (4th, 4:17.97) with both of her marks sitting among the top-six in program history.

RELAY ON REPEAT
In UCI's first 4x400 relay of the season, Aoife Hernon, Catalina Teran, Esmeray Demirbas, and Mikah Longcob ran a program-record 3:40.83 at the Ben Brown Invitational (March 13). At the Mt. SAC Relays, Hernon, Ihe Okoh, Teran, and Demirbas bettered that mark with a new school-record 3:39.01. In the 4x100, Jazzmine Davis, Halle Sutherland, Samantha Bartz, and Teran ran a season-best 44.60 at the Steve Scott Invitational. The quartet ranks second in program history as their time was .09 seconds off the school record.

RECORD-BREAKING SEASON
It has been a record-breaking year for UC Irvine women's track & field in 2026. The Anteaters combined to top the charts in six events during the indoor season. They carried that momentum into the outdoor campaign where they have broken eight school records in five events (100m, 400m, steeplechase, 4x400 relay, heptathlon). The 'Eaters also won the program's first MPSF Indoor Track & Field team championship in March, less than 10 months after claiming their first Big West Women's Outdoor Track & Field title in 2025.

RAISING THE BAR
The 'Eaters have built an impressive contingent in the high jump where they have four individuals ranked among the top-10 in program history. Zharia Taylor, who was a second-team All-American in the event last year, is second with a personal-record 1.81 meters (5-11.25). Esmeray Demirbas is third (1.79m/5-10.5), while Kailah McKenzie is fifth (1.77m/5-9.75). Taylor, Demirbas, and McKenzie were all 2025 Big West scorers and NCAA West First Round qualifiers. This season, Joy Anderson joined them among UCI's top-10 as her clearance of 1.74m (5-8.5) at the Steve Scott Invitational is sixth. McKenzie, who was also a regional qualifier in the long jump, added the triple jump to her repertoire, making her debut in the event at the Vince O'Boyle Classic where she established the No. 4 mark in school history at 12.28m (40-3.5). The Anteaters are a threat in the pole vault this year as well with the return of junior Alana Sugue, who missed last season with an injury. Sugue set a PR 4.01m (13-1.75) on April 4 to move up to No. 2 among UC Irvine's all-time leaders.

THROWING IT OUT THERE
UC Irvine set a top-five mark in program history in all four throwing events this season. At the Challenge Cup, senior Nyla Baker was a double champion with personal records in both the discus (52.01m/170-7) and shot put (15.78m/51-9.25). She moved up to No. 2 among the Anteaters' leaders in the discus, while improving on her No. 3 mark in the shot put. She later topped her discus PR with a toss of 53.37m (175-1) at the Steve Scott Invitational. Sophomore Pinkie Schnayer also climbed to fifth in school history in the shot put with a lifetime-best 14.94m (49-0.25) at the Beach Opener. In the hammer, senior DeAna Davis has notched a personal best at two meets this season, most recently unleashing a toss of 58.67m (192-6) at the Challenge Cup to rank second at UCI. Giselle Rodriguez kicked off her 'Eater career with a personal-record 46.62m (152-11) at the Beach Opener to rank third in the javelin. She then moved up to No. 2 with a winning throw of 48.38m (158-8) Vince O'Boyle Classic.

WEEKLY TRIFECTA
The Anteaters claimed three Big West Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Week awards this year. On April 7, Kaia Schmidt took home UCI's first honor of the season after winning the steeplechase in a school-record and 17-second personal-best 10:16.88 at the Triton Invitational. Aoife Hernon and Joy Anderson then swept the weekly honors on April 14. Hernon was named the Big West Track Athlete of the Week for her initial school record in the 400m (54.05), while Anderson earned Big West Field Athlete of the Week distinction following her program-best 5,572 points in the heptathlon at the Bryan Clay Multis.

UP NEXT
Qualifying individuals and relays will make their way to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the NCAA West First Round, May 27-30.