2019 Track and Field Release No. 8 |
Multi-Event Meet Program
TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
Multi-Events Signal Start Of Big West Championship
UC Santa Barbara hosts the multi-events portion of the 2019 Big West Track and Field Championships this week at Pauley Track Facility, with the heptathlon and decathlon events beginning on Friday. This is the first time since 1983 that UCSB has hosted the conference meet.
The decathlon starts at noon with 14 entries representing five different schools. The host Gauchos have the most number of competitors (5), followed by four from Long Beach State, two from Cal Poly and UC Davis and one from UC Riverside. Friday’s schedule includes the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters. On Saturday, the athletes will compete in the 110 meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters.
Heading the field of 14 competitors is Long Beach State senior Herman Day. He owns the top score of any Big West decathlete this season, when the accumulated 7,410 points at the UC Riverside Spring Track Classic on March 21. That total placed him at No. 3 on the school’s all-time list. He’s ranked No. 10 in the West Region, and 16th in the nation with that mark. In previous Big West Championships, Day finished fifth overall in 2015 and had his highest career finish – second in 2016.
Day’s biggest competition looks to be fellow senior Tyler Nelson from UC Santa Barbara. Nelson owns the No. 2 mark in the Big West this season with a career-best 7,336 points at the Westmont Collegiate Classic on March 21. After missing the 2018 season, he looks to add to his mantle as he won the 2016 decathlon as a sophomore before finishing second in 2017 his junior year.
The decathlon field also includes returning champion Kyle Clancy of UC Davis. The senior sits No. 3 on the conference leaderboard with 7,171 points, earned at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 17. Clancy won at last year’s meet with a point total of 7,181 – the No. 3 score in Aggie history. UC Santa Barbara sophomore Sam Pica is the fourth entrant with a score topping 7,000 points this season. He totalled 7,093 at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
In the heptathlon, the two favorites are seniors Hope Bender of UC Santa Barbara and Erinn Beattie of UC Davis. Both are ranked nationally in the top 10, with Bender third in the country at 5,940 points. She achieved that career-best score at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 17, and came up just 46 points short of the school record set by alumnus and 2016 US Olympian Barbara Nwaba in 2012. Bender recorded finishes of third in 2016 and 14th in 2017 before breaking through with her first title in 2018, scoring 5,561 points to outdistance Beattie’s 5,458.
Beattie ranks No. 8 in the country with her school record 5,671 points at the Bryan Clay Invitational. She will look to dethrone Bender after coming up just short in 2018. Beattie also finished 12th in 2017 and sixth in 2016.
The nine other participants in the heptathlon look to be chasing Bender and Beattie, although UC Riverside junior Dilini Amarasekara is the third Big West representative with a score over 5,000, as she posted 5,074 points on March 21 at the UCR Spring Track Classic.
Friday’s competition includes the 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters. The heptathlon concludes on Saturday with the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.