It was a good showing for the UCSB women’s track and field team which opened the 2022 Indoor season at the Cougar Classic Open on Friday afternoon.
Several Gauchos put on strong performances, landing top-10 or better in multiple events at The Podium Facility, including a record-breaking run from Mariana Lanz.
The day began with the weight throw, which the Gauchos dominated placing all four athletes in the top-nine. Sophomore Garbiela Sanchez led the team coming in 2nd with a toss of 15.96m. Freshman Amanda Spear (13.66m) came in 6th, just a tick further than fellow freshman Leilani Cendejas (13.65m) who finished in 7th, and in 9th was sophomore Saloni Khandhadia (13.06m).
Four more Gauchos finished top-nine in the long jump as well with sophomore Emma Barthel placing 4th with a mark of 5.26m. Junior Jiana Boston and sophomore Sophia Bailey both tied for 6th place reaching 5.15m and freshman Jessica Swalve placed 9th achieving a 4.98m jump.
Freshman Jessica Boyd established her spot in the final for the 60 meter dash by winning the prelim and then tightly closed out the final with a time of 7.75, which was good for 3rd place.
The performance of the day came during the 200-meter dash where sophomore Mariana Lanz finished in 2nd place with a time of 24.78 which breaks the all-time indoor program record and was just shy of the facility record. Barthel followed her in 4th with a 25.68 and Boyd finished in 6th at 25.85.
If etching her name in Gaucho history wasn’t enough, Lanz captured another silver in the triple jump posting an 11.82m leap. Boston was next on the podium placing 3rd with an 11.06m.
Junior Morgan Simon fought it out with two other competitors in the pole-vault standing on a three-way tie at 3.45m as they went into their final round. After much deliberation, Simon secured a two-way tie for second place at the same mark after each vaulter fouled their three final attempts.
Checking in at under a minute in the 400-meter dash was freshman Sophia Pardo who placed 3rd with a time of 59.82. Just behind her in 6th was sophomore Camryn Blankenship who finished at 1:00.85.
Sanchez was back at it in the shot-put event placing 6th with a 12.40m throw, and Swalve placed 7th achieving an 11.75m toss.
Freshmen Shay Hawkes and Katie Meade finished 7th and 8th, respectively, in the high jump each notching a 1.55m mark.
To close out the day UCSB persevered in the 4×4 with the help of Lanz who ran the fastest split at 55.68 during the bell lap, leading the relay team to bring home second place and a final time of 4:00.47. Joining her was Pardo, Blankenship, and junior Chloe Kimes.
In preparation for the US Championships this coming February, Assistant Coach Hope Bender also competed in the meet as an individual and won both the long jump with a 5.64m mark and the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.60. She came in at 8.54 in the prelims which is a facility record. Bender also took 4th in the shot put with a 12.98m throw.
The Gauchos will now have some time off before heading back up to Washington for the UW Invitational in Seattle scheduled for Jan. 28.
Daniel Moebus-Bowles works in communications/media relations at UCSB.
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