The UC Santa Barbara track and field team brought in six medals on day one of Big West Championships weekend Friday at UC Davis’ Woody Wilson Track, as Nick Randazzo defended his championship in the men’s steeplechase and Brian Schulz won the men’s 10k.
The Gauchos added to their three medals from last weekend’s Big West Multis Championships, bringing their count to six – three gold, four silver and two bronze.
“Overall a good day for both programs. We put athletes in finals for tomorrow, had a few surprise scorers and caught breaks. We also had a few areas we missed, but other people ended up stepping up. That’s the Conference meet for you,” said Track and Field Director Cody Fleming.
After finishing second to former teammate Garrett Reynolds in last year’s championships, redshirt senior Brian Schulz took first in the men’s 10k with a time of 30:45.27.
The Gauchos got a huge boost in the men’s steeplechase, with Nick Randazzo’s 8:53.51 giving him his second straight individual championship. Fellow redshirt senior Matt Richardson crossed the finish line second with a time of 9:04.61.
Redshirt juniors Graham Michiels and Peter Michiels both brought in points in the men’s high jump, as Graham (2.06m) claimed silver and Peter took sixth (J2.01m).
In the javelin, Chase Tarr (66.63m) got UCSB another silver medal and Brad Thomas finished seventh (57.87m).
UCSB got fifth-place in the long jump from Joshua Godfrey (7.18m) and sixth from Tanner Berney (7.17m).
“Nick Randazzo and Brian Schulz had memorable performances for us. Seeing Brian drop a 57.9 second last lap was incredible,” said Fleming.
On the women’s side, Emma Barthel came up huge in the long jump, getting another silver for UCSB with a 5.76m.
Amanda Spear (53.52m) and Gabby Sanchez (50.68m) got the Gauchos’ day started in the hammer, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
“Emma Barthel stepped up huge for us placing second in the long jump. Since the day she got to UCSB, we knew we had a special athlete in her and she’s starting to really turn it on,” Fleming said.
Michael Jorgenson writes about sports for UCSB.
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