Jane Doolittle’s record-breaking high jump helped propel the women’s track and field team to an easy 126-76 victory over Cal Poly in its annual dual meet. However, the men’s team was unable to match that success in a tough 101-98 loss to the Mustangs.

Doolittle cleared 6’1.50” (1.87 meters) surpassing Tara Fairfield’s mark of 6’0.75” and now stands alone atop the UCSB all-time high jump list. Tayler Williams and Tamara Thomas also performed well in the jumps, finishing second and third in both the long jump and the triple jump. William’s mark of 19’3” in the long jump moved her within two inches of the school record.

In the throws, Kayla Smith won the shot put with a personal best mark of 47’9.50”. Smith sat out all of last season with a foot injury and began the season slow before coming on of late.

“It took time at the beginning of the season to get back into a rhythm,” Smith said. “I actually revised my technique about three weeks ago and I have seen good results since then.”
On the track, Danielle Domenichelli won the women’s 1500 meters with her seasonal best time of 4:28.99, while Sheneice Vargas, Cherrelle McMillian and Jenn Carey placed 1-2-3 in the 400 meter.

The women hope to carry over their dominating performance against Cal Poly to conference championships May 14–15 in Northridge.
Meanwhile, the men’s team suffered a narrow defeat to Cal Poly 101-98, as it failed to string together enough winning performances to overcome the Mustangs.

Scott Smith maintained his torrid pace on the track, winning the 1500 meter by more than seven seconds with a time of 3:44.09, just three-tenths behind the school record. In the steeple chase, Julian deRubira came in first place eclipsing his personal best by nearly 10 seconds with a time of 8:48.92.

Alex Umstead won the hammer throw with a mark 190’03.25”, outdistancing his nearest competitor from Cal Poly by over 23 feet. Mike Powers kept the Gauchos competitive by winning both the long jump and the triple jump with marks of 22’1.75” and 46’07.75 respectively.

The Gauchos will participate in the Occidental Iinvitational Sat., May 8 in the last qualifying event before Big West championships. The Big West Multi-Event finals for decathletes and heptathletes will be held May 7–8.