The UC Santa Barbara women’s and men’s track and field team traveled to UC Davis in order to participate in the 2022 Big West Track & Field Championships. On day one of the event, the track and field team was able to capture six medals: three gold medals were given out to the first-place finishers, senior Nick Randazzo in the men’s 3000 steeplechase, senior Brian Schulz in the men’s 10k race and freshman Jessica Swalve in the women’s heptathlon. 

The other seven medals given out on day one of the Big West Championships were four silver medals given to senior Matt Richardson in the men’s 3000 steeplechase, graduate student Chase Tarr in the men’s javelin throw, junior Graham Michiels in the men’s high jump and sophomore Emma Barthel in the women’s long jump. Rounding out the podium winners was senior Joshua Godfrey in the men’s decathlon and sophomore Sofia Bailey in the women’s heptathlon, each taking home a bronze medal. 

Some honorable mentions from day one included junior Peter Michiels finishing 6th in the men’s high jump, freshman Brad Thomas’s 7th place finish in the men’s javelin, and Godfrey finishing 5th in the men’s long jump. 

With the second day of the 2022 Big West Track and Field Championships, Schulz kept the winning going, picking up his second gold medal finishing first in the men’s 5K race. On the women’s side, freshman Jessica Boyd, junior Alexa Cuevas, Barthel and freshman Sophia Pardo finished first in the 4×100 relay with a time of 46.80 seconds, earning a collective gold medal.

One more silver medal was added to the Gauchos total as senior Jarett Chinn finished 2nd in the men’s 800 meter. Then, two bronze medals were added as junior Glenn Mbamo finished third in the men’s triple jump and sophomore Gabby Sanchez rounded out the podium to take third for the women’s discus. Sophomore Saloni Khandhadia also brought in points for the Gaucho women finishing behind Sanchez in the discus in 6th place. Junior Kendall Martin barely missed the podium for the women’s javelin, finishing in 4th place. Sophomore Abigail Monti and Boyd ran their solo events with Monti ending up in sixth in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and Boyd rounding out in 7th place for the women’s 100 meters.  

Junior Brandon Cobian and sophomore Gus Marshall finished in 7th and 8th place, behind their teammate Schulz in the men’s 5K race. Also finishing behind a teammate, sophomore Anthony Victa ended up two spots behind Mbamo in 5th place for the men’s triple jump. Sophomore Jared Freeman barely missed the podium at 4th place in the men’s hammer. The Gaucho’s 4×100 relay squad also took 4th place along with freshman Eitan Goore in the men’s pole vault. Rounding out the day two points grabbers was freshman Tyler Holl with his 5th place finish in the 110-meter hurdles and the men’s 4×400 relay squad also crossing the line in 5th. 

The men’s final scores came out in a positive light for the Gauchos, ending up 3rd in the standings with 140.5 points, behind Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton. The women’s squad put across solid numbers throughout the meet contributing to their 6th place finish, with 71.5 points.