The UCSB track and field team competed with a split team again this past weekend as they near ever closer to the postseason.

Part of the squad was at the University of Oregon for the Oregon Invitational, while the rest of the team competed at the Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego. With just a dual meet with Cal Poly and two invitationals left, the Gauchos are running out of time to post qualifying marks for the Big West Championships in their individual events.

The Gaucho sprinters and field team competed at the Triton Invitational. Junior high jumper David Hoff had the best Santa Barbara finish of the day, with a 2.05-meter jump that earned him second place. Also doing well on the field was senior thrower Eugene Bradley, who finished third in the hammer throw with a 64.48-meter mark. Junior thrower Jeff Stewart, after finishing 21st in the hammer throw, tossed the shot 17.36 meters for a 14th place finish in his main event. Leading the Gauchos, senior jumper Ashley Coelho finished fourth in the triple jump with an 11.68 mark while freshman jumper Christina Nowak finished ninth with a 1.67-meter leap. Best in the sprints was senior hurdler Stellamarie Hall, who grabbed a seventh place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.73.

Most of Santa Barbara’s distance runners competed at the Oregon Invitational. Junior distance runner Mike Powers was the most successful Gaucho in Eugene, as his 9:11.36 time in the 3000-meter steeplechase was first in his section. Junior distance Bethany Nickless was also successful in the 3000 steeplechase, finishing fifth in the top section with a 10:35.73 time. Senior distance J.D. Krawczyk also grabbed a top 10 finish in the 5000-meter, finishing sixth with a 14:08.87 mark, to lead junior Chris Ashley and senior Micah Tyhurst who finished 23rd and 24th in the same event.

The Gauchos’ next competition is a dual meet with Cal Poly at home this Saturday.

-Derek Mead