Last week, both the men and women’s track and field teams excelled at the Cal Poly Invitational in San Luis Obispo, finishing in first place with respective scores of 141.5 and 98.

The men’s squad took first in the 400m and 800m dashes, the 110m hurdles, the 3000m steeplechase, shot put and high jump. The women’s team found similar success, winning the 5000m run, the 800m dash, the 100m hurdles, triple jump, hammer throw, discus throw and high jump. Collectively, the Gauchos have been on a hot streak as of late, as they continue to push for their ultimate goal of a championship title.

“I know a lot of guys are feeling really good right now … We’re trying to win a championship here,” senior distance runner Andrew Pilavjian said. “I’m just trying to do everything I can to help the team out.”

The men’s team placed No. 1 overall with a score of 141.50 total points at this past weekend’s Cal/Nevada Championships in Claremont, CA. Following UCSB were Long Beach State, No. 2 with 114 points, and UC Riverside in third with a total of 109.

On the track, UCSB dominated the competition, highlighted by the 800m run in which senior Ryan Martin (1:46.56), freshman Shyan Vaziri (1:50.61) and senior Rusty Parker (1:52.02) placed 1-2-3 to add a combined 25 points to the Gauchos’ overall score. UCSB also landed a combined 15 points from Pilavjian (9:20.33) and freshman Bryce Rausa (9:26.02) as they placed second and third in the men’s 3000m steeplechase.

In the men’s field events, juniors Mitchell Haag and Max Villalba continued their hot streaks in the high jump as they finished No. 1 and No. 2 to contribute an additional 18 points to the Gauchos’ No. 1 overall score. Haag and Villalba both cleared personal bests in the event with respective marks of 7’00.50” (2.15m) and 6’10.75” (2.10).

The UCSB women’s team finished eighth overall with 46.50 total points, led by dominant senior Justine Diaz who finished No. 1 in the 800m with a time of 2:06.09.

“Just looking towards the end of season … we’ve made it to the first round of Nationals the past few years so now I’m just looking forward to making it past that and going all the way,” Diaz said.

In the 5000m run, senior Andrea Jacobs finished No. 1 with a time of 17:10.62 while adding 10 points to the Gauchos’ overall score. In the high jump, junior Helena Montin achieved marks of 5’04.25” (1.63m) while adding 5.5 points from her fourth-place finish.

UCSB’s track and field teams look to build off of their phenomenal performances from these past weeks as they now turn their sights over to the Sam Adams Multi-Event at Westmount College in Santa Barbara on April 2 and 3.

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