LA JOLLA, Calif. ? Day two of the UC San Diego Triton Invitational came to a close on Saturday evening with the host school setting two new school records while also posting solid NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
Laiah Blue set a new school record in the women's 400 meter hurdles with her time of 59.87 seconds, breaking the 60 second barrier for the first time in her career and shattering her own school record of 60.59 that was set earlier this season. She was the only athlete to break the 60 second mark in the event on Saturday and only the second D-II student-athlete to go below the one minute barrier this year.
Blue was also a part of the women's 1600 meter relay team that won its event while setting a new school record with a time of 3:47.48, more than half a second faster than the previous school record that was set in 2006. Corey Sheredy led off the race for UCSD and handed off to Anna Lee McGregor who gave way to Blue before Amber Green anchored the team and broke the tape in record fashion. The time is the seventh fastest D-II women's time in the country this season.
Whitney Johnson won the invitational triple jump on the women's side for UCSD, leaping a distance of 40'6.75” for the victory. Her teammate, Leah Murphy, finished fifth in the same event with a jump of 37'10.75”. Johnson had a jump earlier this season that was 41'3.75” in length, setting a new school record and coming in as the second longest mark in the nation this year at the Division II level.
Diane Dunn and Emily McGregor finished 4th and 5th, respectively, in the 3000 meter run, crossing the finish line in times of 9:58.15 and 10:04.07. Both of those marks are NCAA provisional qualifying times and place the duo in the top-10 in the country this season.
On the men's side, freshman Max Mullender won his heat of the 3000 meter steeplechase, crossing the finish line in a time of 9:51.45. His teammate, Jake LeVieux, ran in the heat prior to Mullender and finished 7th overall with his time of 9:32.93, just seven seconds off a NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
Chris Yu finished 5th in the men's long jump while Scott Tsuda placed 7th. The tandem had leaps of 21'10.25” and 21'08”, respectively.
Daniel Anderson had a solid showing in the men's 800 meters, finishing 7th overall with his time of 1:53.80. Earlier this season, at the Cal-Nevada Championships, he ran a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:51.60.
Both Triton teams will have a break from competition next weekend before traveling to San Francisco for the 2007 CCAA Track & Field Championships that will be hosted by San Francisco State on May 3-5. The UCSD women are the two-time defending league champions while the men were the runners-up in 2006.
