In a dual meet Saturday against conference foe Cal Poly, both the men’s and women’s track and field teams captured victory for UCSB.

While the men defeated the Mustangs 104-96, the women dominated 116-86.

“There were a lot of big marks from everybody,” junior Barbara Nwaba said. “It’s a big rivalry, so it felt really good to beat them at their own place.”

On the men’s side, the Gauchos took advantage in the running events. In the sprints, UCSB dominated, beginning with the 100-meter dash, which sophomore Evan Walker won with a time of 10.70.

Then, the Gauchos swept both the 200-meter and 400-meter dash events. In the 400-meter dash, senior Ryan Martin crossed the finish line with a time of 47.09, a new personal best.

“I know Ryan Martin wanted to hit 46 [seconds], but he still had a PR, so it was a good race for him,” Nwaba said.

Senior Rusty Parker finished first in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.76 while freshman Shyan Vaziri ran the 1,500-meter run in 3:48.73, good enough for first place by one hundredth of a second. The time was also a personal record for Vaziri.

In the field events, junior Mitchell Haag won the high jump, and junior John Walsh won the long jump, with each leaping 2.10 and 7.20 meters, respectively. Throwing 54.75 meters, senior Alex Umstead took first in the hammer throw.

“The guys are going really well,” Nwaba said. “John Walsh in the long jump had a big PR, which was really good for him.”

On the women’s side, the Gauchos dominated the field events, winning seven of the eight events.

Nwaba won a trio of events, taking first in the high jump, javelin throw and 100-meter hurdles. She jumped 1.82 meters, threw 39.48 meters and ran the hurdles in 13.81 seconds for the victories.

Junior Irene Kujore also found success in multiple events, placing first in both the shot put and discus throw. She threw 14.62

and 48.14 meters, respectively. In two of the jumping events, junior

Veronica Gines jumped 5.87 meters in the long jump while senior Tayler Williams leaped 12.28 meters in the triple jump. Both efforts earned first place. In addition, senior Alex Francis won the hammer throw with a final distance of 48.26 meters.

“Veronica Gines in the hammer — she had a big PR,” Nwaba said. “Alex Francis came up with a big win too and Tayler Williams did great in the triple jump.”

On the track, the Gauchos couldn’t be touched in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sweeping the event. Senior Cassie Brooker placed first with a time of 10:55.36, breaking her personal best by more than 20 seconds.

Senior Lauren Kodama finished first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.13, while junior Amanda Rodriguez’s time of 1:03.42 earned her first in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles.

Next weekend, UCSB will be split between the Big West Conference multi-event finals at UC Irvine and the Occidental Invitational in Pasadena.

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