By MICHAEL JORGENSON
UCSB SPORTS WRITER
Jessica Swalve held a slim lead in the heptathlon standings after day one of the Big West Multis Championships, but would run away with the championship on day two with excellent performances in both the javelin and the 800m.
Sofia Bailey also maintained her position from day one, joining Swalve on the podium by finishing in third-place. On the men’s side, Joshua Godfrey also placed third to lead the Gauchos.
WOMEN’S HEPTATHLON
Redshirt freshman Jessica Swalve had to feel good about her chances on day two, with both the javelin and 800m dash still left to compete in. After placing fourth in the long jump (5.16m), she would put forth a pair of top-two scores to close out the competition, with her 37.47m javelin throw and 2:22.88 time in the 800m sealing her first-place win.
It was the second straight trip to the podium for the second-year Gaucho, who improved upon last year’s second-place finish.
For the second straight day, sophomore Sofia Bailey would close things out with the third-best overall score. She put up respectable numbers in both the long jump (4.97m) and javelin (30.26m), but her strongest outing came in the 800m. Bailey’s time of 2:23.07 was within two tenths of a second of Swalve’s time, giving her third-place in the event and in the overall scores.
Joshua Godfrey had the second-highest score out of the four Gaucho decathletes following day one, but would end up as UCSB’s top scorer with the third-best overall score of 6,919 to make the podium. He excelled in the discus (35.25m) and had one of his best day-two performances in the pole vault, posting the third-best mark of 4.51m.
After leading the pack after the first day, Brad Thomas would finish in fourth overall. Thomas took first in the javelin (61.00m) and fifth in the 110m hurdles (16.10s). He also did well in the 1500m, with his time of 4:43.32 ranking fourth.
Matthew Molina tied Cal St. Fullerton’s Andrew Aguilar for first in the 110m hurdles (15.15s), a performance which helped him finish fifth overall. He also finished a hundredth of a second faster than his teammate Josh Godfrey in the 1500m.
Peter Michiels rounded out the Gaucho performers with the sixth-highest overall score of 6,613. His best showings came in the 110m hurdles (15.76s), the 1500m (4:42.06) and the javelin (53.71m).
Michael Jorgenson writes about sports for UCSB.
email: sports@newspress.com
