LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego track and field teams had a successful start to the 2010 season on Saturday, picking up a pair of team victories in a four-way meet at the Triton Track and Field Stadium. The UCSD women tallied a total of 213 points to defeat San Diego State, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State Dominguez Hills, while Triton men finished with 152 points to best CMS and Pomona.
UCSD easily outdistanced second place SDSU on the women's side, nearly doubling the Aztecs' final tally of 108 points. CMS finished in a close third with 104.5, while Pomona was fourth at 103.5, and Dominguez scored 81 to finish fifth.
The Tritons recorded a 46-point victory on the men's side, as second place CMS finished with 106 points and Pomona scored 85.
All told, UCSD athletes recorded NCAA national or provisional qualifying marks in nine events to kick off the season with a bang.
"Overall, it was a very good start to the year for both squads," head coach Tony Salerno said. "We had an amazing number of qualifiers for this early in the season."
Junior Stephanie LeFever had a big day on the women's side, winning the long jump with a leap of 19'10.75". Her leap was good enough for an automatic national qualifier and tied the school record in the event, which was set by Whitney Johnson in 2008.
Senior Christine Merrill was a double-winner in the 100 and 400-meter hurdles, recording times of 14.23 and 1:01.38, respectively. She finished just ahead of LeFever's 14.44 in the 100, and all three marks went down as provisional qualifiers.
Linda Rainwater also started the season with a victory, hitting 5'9.25" to win the high jump and record an automatic qualifier. She won the NCAA National Championship in the event as a junior last season.
Kelly Fogarty had the top time in both the 100 and 200 meters to lead the sprints squad, finishing with a provisional qualifying time of 11.93 in the 100 and a time of 24.78 in the 200.
Marie Archer and Theresa Richards were also top finishers on the day, winning the hammer throw and javelin, respectively. Archer registered a provisional mark with a toss of 163'5", while Richards' toss of 136'3" was also good for a provisional qualifier.
Leon Baham's performance in the 400-meter hurdles was the highlight on the men's side, as he clocked in at 53.67 to win the event and grab an NCAA provisional qualifier. He also had the top time in the 110 hurdles, crossing the finish line at 15.15.
Dan Nguyen (100-meter dash, 11.44), Tobias Haswell (400, 49.09), Andrew Tran (triple jump, 43'1.75"), and Nick Howe (javelin, 188'10") also won individual events for the UCSD men.
The Tritons are back in action next Saturday when they travel to UC Irvine for the All-Cal Championships.
