The UC Irvine Women’s Track and Field team concluded their most successful season at the Division I Outdoor championship on June 13.
During a season of strong success for the program, which is emerging as a powerhouse in the Big West and an annual participant in the west region, the Anteaters posted their initial season marks at the Spokane Indoor Challenge on Jan. 17.
At the indoor challenge, the Anteaters set some early marks of the season as senior throws DeAna Davis placed second in the weight throw with a throw of 16.47 meters, freshman pole vault Jessie Condliff vaulted 3.82 meters, a top 85 vault at the time, junior hurdles/jumps Kailah McKenzie placed first among Division I competitors with a jump of 5.61 meters in the long jump.
Other early season times were made in the 60 meter hurdles final where graduate student pentathlon Jazzmine Davis finished first in 8.71 seconds and in the 60 meter final, junior sprints Halle Sutherland finished second in 7.55 seconds, senior sprints Samantha Bartz ran the 200 meter in 25.11 seconds and the women’s 4×400 team placed second behind the University of Montana with a time of 3:45.77 — the 61st best time in Division I up until that point, and an early school record.
Some other early season highlights were when senior throws Nyla Baker threw 14.62 meters at the shot put indoor challenge — making it the 77th best throw of the season up until that point in Division I — and graduate student Aoife Hernon 55.43 second 400 meter time, which was 63rd in Division I at the time.
One major mark that sat with the Anteaters was when senior pentathlon Zharia Taylor jumped 1.75 meters to place second in the high jump and get the 52nd best mark in Division I up to that point in the indoor challenge. The pentathlete would look to improve that time up until the outdoor conference championship.
As the season progressed, the Anteaters improved. The ‘Eaters claimed the top four spots in the Big West Women’s Heptathlon championship as freshman Joy Anderson, senior Jolie Robinson, senior Jazzmine Davis and Taylor were part of this group.
Baker improved in the shot put with a 15.75 meter throw to take the Big West Championship, Taylor improved her jump to 1.78 in the high jump to also take home a conference championship title. On the final day of the conference championship, the women then ran a 4×100 meter relay in 44.78 to win the conference title. Sutherland took the conference crown with a 23.24 time in the 200 meter and the women’s 4×400 team improved to 3:41.11, which placed them in third place.
Winning their second outdoor championship in a row, the Anteaters looked to make more noise in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) West Regional this year.
At the NCAA West Regional, McKenzie placed 48th with a jump of 5.5 meters on the first day. Baker, looking to improve nationally, threw 14.65 meters in the shot put which placed her in 39th, and Sutherland finished the 200 meter in 23.78 seconds which placed her in 36th. On the second day of the regional, Taylor jumped 1.71 meters in the high jump for a four way 37th place tie and the 4×100 team placed 16th with a time of 44.88 seconds.
At the NCAA Division I Championship, in front of a nationally televised audience, the Anteaters sent two heptathletes to compete for a national championship.
After starting out hot and looking like the Anteaters could claim points towards a national championship with an Anderson 13.91 second 100 meter hurdles finish and a 1.78 high jump, which was second in the competition, Anderson finished 19th and Robinson finished 22nd.
Now, as the Anteaters have used the 2026 season to solidify themselves on top of the Big West, there will be an increased look towards having multiple athletes to qualify for the 2027 NCAA Championship.
Jack Fedor is the 2025-2026 Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Tracy Sandoval.
