Representatives from UC Davis, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara collected Big West Track and Field Athlete of the Week accolades with all four posting marks that landed them atop the conference’s performance list.

UC Davis senior Brian Thomas (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch HS) notched his first career Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Week honor after rising to the top of the conference’s performance list in the 800 meters.  Thomas clocked 1:49.98 at the Beach Invitational, which took over first place in the Big West by .12 seconds.  The time also positioned him No. 4 on the Aggie all-time list.  Thomas also placed third in the 400 meters in 47.09, which is good for the third-fastest time in the Big West this season, as well as placing him second all-time in UC Davis history.

Long Beach State junior Courtne’ Davis (Riverside, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt HS) picked up her fourth career Big West Women’s Track Athlete of the Week award as she tallied three first place finishes in the Gold Invitational division of the Beach Invitational.  Davis won her events in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 meter relay. Davis blazed to victory in the 100m in a sizzling 11.30 seconds, which would have set the school and meet records, but it was not at a wind legal (+2.5) measurement.  It is the No. 1 mark in the Big West, No. 16 in the West Region and No. 31 nationally.  Running into a head wind (-1.5) in the 200m, Young posted a fast 23.40, just nine-tenths of a second off her personal-best 23.31 set at the Baldy Castillo Invitational on March 16.  Davis then helped her 4x100 relay team to victory with a time of 45.00.  The Beach quartet has qualified to represent in Sacramento for NCAA Regionals in May.

Notching his first career Big West Men’s Field Athlete of the Week award, UC Davis senior Marc Toney (Mountain View, Calif./St. Francis HS) turned in an impressive couple of performances in the pole vault.  Clay posted a mark of 17-02.25 (5.24m) at the Bryan Clay Invitational, which bested his previous personal best mark of 16-08.75 set at this year’s Titan Team Challenge by a large margin.  But his improvement was not limited to that meet, as he increased his PR to 17-06.50 (5.35m) the next day at the Beach Invitational.  The gargantuan clearance moved him into a three-way tie for first place in the UC Davis record book.  Toney also scooted up to No. 1 in the Big West and into a tie for No. 9 in the West Region.

UC Santa Barbara junior Hope Bender (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) earned her second career Big West Women’s Field Athlete of the Week accolade for her efforts in the heptathlon.  Bender obliterated her personal best score of 5,212 points, accumulating a total of 5,725 points at the Bryan Clay Invitational.  She set PR’s in five of out of seven events to produce that score, which is now No. 10 in the NCAA and makes her a safe bet to compete at the NCAA Championships in June.  Bender tied the school’s 100 meter hurdles record of 13.59 set by Olympian Barbara Nwaba back in 2012, finishing in 13.59 seconds.  She also posted marks of 5-03 in the high jump, 39-00.50 in the shot put, 18-11.75 in the long jump, 117-02 in the javelin while running a 23.97 in the 200 meters and 2:11.30 in the 800 meters.  Bender is now No. 2 on the UCSB all-time list just behind Nwaba.

Others nominated (Men’s Track): Swarnjit Boyal (Cal Poly); Danny Ramirez (Cal State Fullerton); T’Jari Packard (CSUN); Daniel York-Mouton (Long Beach State); Myles McDonald (UC Santa Barbara)

Others nominated (Women’s Track): Maddie McDonald (Cal Poly); Samantha Huerta (Cal State Fullerton); De’Andreah Young (CSUN); Haley Adel (UC Davis); Katie Camarena (UC Santa Barbara)

Others nominated (Men’s Field): Edwin Matthews (Cal State Fullerton); Clint Meyer (CSUN); Sal Nasser (Long Beach State); Kordell Hampton (UC Santa Barbara)

Others nominated (Women’s Field): Brooke Tjerrild (Cal Poly); Iesha Hamm (Cal State Fullerton); Brandy Williams (CSUN); Erinn Beattie (UC Davis); Barbara Coward (UC Irvine); Lily Lowe (Hawai‘i)