UC Irvine claimed two of the individual weekly honors this week as Ricky Barnes claimed the Men's Track Athlete of the Week and Alisha Misiata claimed the Women's Field Athlete of the Week. UC Riverside's Brenda Martinez won the Women’s Track Athlete of the Week, while Ezra Kwong of Long Beach State garnered Men's Field Athlete of the Week.
Barnes (Bakersfield, Calif.) took home the Men's Track Athlete of the Week after his performance at the Collegiate Classic. He won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.76 and finished second in the 1500-meter run after crossing completing the race in 3:46.91. His 1500-meter time is an NCAA Regional qualifying mark, while his 800-meter showing is a Big West qualifier. Martinez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) wins the second weekly honor of her young career after a solid showing at the Collegiate Classic. The freshman finished second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:07.22, the second-best showing in the event in Highlander history. Her time is the best this season in the Big West and the second-best mark in the West Region.
Kwong (Novato, Calif.) claimed the Men's Field Athlete of the week honor for his performance at the Trojan Invitational. The senior achieved marks of 56-6.5 in the shot put and 159-9 in the discus. His shot put mark qualified him for NCAA Regionals. Misiata (San Diego, Calif.) took home her first ever weekly honor after an outstanding performance at the Collegiate Classic. The freshman won the shot put with a mark of 47-6, placed fifth in the discus (146-9) and sixth in the hammer throw (146-2). Her showing in the shot put qualified her for NCAA Regionals and an improvement on her #2 mark in UCI history.
Busy Weekend in Store for Big West Track & Field
With the calendar showing the final weekend in March, all seven Big West track & field will be competiting in meets this weekend as the push towards the conference championships continues.
Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara will all head to Fresno to compete in the California/Nevada Championships hosted by Fresno State. One of the most prestigious events in the west, 27 squads from between the two schools are set to compete.
The Mustangs, Titans, and Gauchos will pull double duty this weekend as they are set to join Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC Riverside at the 33rd annual Stanford Invitational in Stanford.
Some of the top programs in the nation are set to compete in the two-day event including Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, Colorado, Columbia, Florida State Indiana, Iona, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wake Forest.