UCI women’s track and field honored eight seniors — Simone Buchanan, Michelle Figarella, Tyra Jones, Olympia Martinez, Alison Meegan, Jenessa Reyes, Persis William-Mensah and Sophia Zhou — as men’s track and field honored three members — on Dickinson, Michael Hamill and Izzak Mireles — at the close of the Steve Scott Invitational Saturday held right in Irvine’s backyard, the Anteater Stadium.
Senior Persis William-Mensah earned herself a fitting end, topping all collegiate competitors and was just narrowed out for first overall in the 100m. Clocking in at 11.54, William-Mensah was four-thousandth of a second off of winner Melanise Chapman, a former Big West champion who ran Saturday unaffiliated.
Partaking in the 4×100 relays, William-Mensah linked up with sophomore Hope Bushnell, junior Julia Sambvani and freshman Mikayla Scott to come away with a second place finish at 45.26.
Fellow future grad Tyra Jones was first among all collegiate participants and fifth overall in the 100m hurdles. Finishing with a time of 13.82, Jones has now reached the finish under 14 seconds on four different occasions through her career as an Anteater.
Seniors Simone Buchanan and Sophia Zhou also repped the Anteaters well as Buchanan placed fifth in the 400m on a new personal best 55.37 while Zhou earned a top 20 finish in the respective event at 59.18. Buchanan now ranks fourth all time in the 400m for UCI.
Meanwhile, senior Michael Hamill registered a new season-best in the 200m at 22.49 for a 14th place finish. Hamill helped anchor a 4×100 relay team that would lock in second place with a season-best 41.39.
Out in throws, senior Jon Dickson also eclipsed his season best in the shot put, throwing out a 49-00.25 mark.
It was a fantastic day for returning Anteaters as well. Junior Asa Allen was the first among collegiate 110m hurdlers (second overall) in the men’s division with a 14.56 finish. Sophomore Alan Tantiwassadakran took 11th overall in the same even but had PR’d with a 15.21 finish.
Junior Paul Resong took home fifth in the 400m at a time of 48.75 while sophomore Andres Woodruff was just behind at sixth, reaching a new personal best in the process at 48.75. Resong and Woodruff were both a part of the same relay team as Hamill that snagged second.
In the women’s field events, junior Barbara Coward finished fourth in the discus, firing out a 165-05 toss. Coward also had a great first day at the Steve Scott Invitational, topping her personal and school best at a hammer throw with a toss over 190 feet at 192-03. The toss placed Coward in first among college athletes and was second overall in the event.
Junior Elizabeth Akindele came in fifth in the shot put, throwing out a personal record of 46-10.25.
Akindele is now fourth in the program record books in the respective events.
Having concluded the Steve Scott Invitational on a high note, UCI hopes to keep breaking personal bests and rewriting the program’s books when they head to Northridge for the Big West Championships, which will commence on May 11 and conclude the following day.
