Saturday, May 16
Long Beach, CA
10:00 AM
UC Irvine
at
Big West Championships
Okonkwo Wins Triple Jump Title to Highlight Final Day of Big West Championships
May 16, 2026 | Men's Track & Field
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's track & field team closed out the Big West Championships with a fourth-place showing Saturday in Long Beach.
The Anteaters, who scored 84.5 points, had their best conference finish since 1992.
Kenechukwu Okonkwo led UCI's scorers with a wire-to-wire victory in the triple jump. He opened the competition with a leap of 15.62 meters (51-3), and that kept him at the top of the leaderboard through six rounds. Okonkwo is the Anteaters' second Big West triple jump champion and first since 1983.
Brandon Burns, Justin Johnson, Logan Lyght, and Brendan Clark started action on the track with a runner-up performance in the 4x100 relay. The quartet combined for a time of 40.09 seconds.
A little over an hour later, Burns (10.32) and Johnson (10.39) both ran wind-aided personal bests to score in the 100m. Johnson then returned to the track once again for the 200m final where he won his second silver medal of the meet, matching his personal record and No. 2 time in program history from yesterday's prelims at 20.53.
AJ Taylor made his way onto the podium, taking third in the 110m hurdles. Taylor ran a wind-aided lifetime-best 13.97. Logan Lyght wasn't far behind in fourth (14.06).
Joe Duggan claimed bronze in the discus with a toss of 56.46m (185-3), while Chimobi Onye took fifth at 53.46m (175-4).
Juan Chantaca was the only individual not from Cal Poly to score in the 5000m. Chantaca was fifth out of 34 finishers in 14:21.61.
Clark added three points with a sixth-place showing in the 400m (47.42). Roman Mendoza was also sixth in the 400m hurdles where he ran a season-best 52.61.
In the 4x400 relay, Clark, Burns, Mendoza, and Matthew Irvine clocked a season-best 3:11.69 to come in sixth.
Jake Reed scored in the pole vault for the second year in a row as he tied for fifth at 4.84 meters (15-10.5)
Darrin Campbell and Griffin Cole both scored in the javelin. Campbell placed sixth overall with a mark of 61.31m (201-1), which he recorded on his first attempt of the meet. Cole was eighth with a toss of 60.07m (197-1).
Big West Championships
Men's Team Standings
1. Cal Poly - 201.5
2. Cal State Fullerton - 152
3. Long Beach State - 114
4. UC Irvine - 84.5
5. UC San Diego - 77.5
6. UC Santa Barbara - 66.5
7. CSUN - 46
8. UC Riverside - 44
9. UC Davis - 17
10. Cal State Bakersfield - 15
The Anteaters, who scored 84.5 points, had their best conference finish since 1992.
Kenechukwu Okonkwo led UCI's scorers with a wire-to-wire victory in the triple jump. He opened the competition with a leap of 15.62 meters (51-3), and that kept him at the top of the leaderboard through six rounds. Okonkwo is the Anteaters' second Big West triple jump champion and first since 1983.
Brandon Burns, Justin Johnson, Logan Lyght, and Brendan Clark started action on the track with a runner-up performance in the 4x100 relay. The quartet combined for a time of 40.09 seconds.
A little over an hour later, Burns (10.32) and Johnson (10.39) both ran wind-aided personal bests to score in the 100m. Johnson then returned to the track once again for the 200m final where he won his second silver medal of the meet, matching his personal record and No. 2 time in program history from yesterday's prelims at 20.53.
AJ Taylor made his way onto the podium, taking third in the 110m hurdles. Taylor ran a wind-aided lifetime-best 13.97. Logan Lyght wasn't far behind in fourth (14.06).
Joe Duggan claimed bronze in the discus with a toss of 56.46m (185-3), while Chimobi Onye took fifth at 53.46m (175-4).
Juan Chantaca was the only individual not from Cal Poly to score in the 5000m. Chantaca was fifth out of 34 finishers in 14:21.61.
Clark added three points with a sixth-place showing in the 400m (47.42). Roman Mendoza was also sixth in the 400m hurdles where he ran a season-best 52.61.
In the 4x400 relay, Clark, Burns, Mendoza, and Matthew Irvine clocked a season-best 3:11.69 to come in sixth.
Jake Reed scored in the pole vault for the second year in a row as he tied for fifth at 4.84 meters (15-10.5)
Darrin Campbell and Griffin Cole both scored in the javelin. Campbell placed sixth overall with a mark of 61.31m (201-1), which he recorded on his first attempt of the meet. Cole was eighth with a toss of 60.07m (197-1).
Big West Championships
Men's Team Standings
1. Cal Poly - 201.5
2. Cal State Fullerton - 152
3. Long Beach State - 114
4. UC Irvine - 84.5
5. UC San Diego - 77.5
6. UC Santa Barbara - 66.5
7. CSUN - 46
8. UC Riverside - 44
9. UC Davis - 17
10. Cal State Bakersfield - 15
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Javelin
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints/Javelin
/ Men's Track & Field
Javelin
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Men's Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Men's Track & Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Men's Track & Field
Hurdles
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