April 11, 2004
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UCSB women won the 12th annual Big West Challenge Cup on Saturday at Pauley Track. Senior Jasmine Washington had a hand in two school records and shattered the meet record in the 400m. Amy Haapanen also set meet records on her way to victory in the shot put and discus. UCSB won the team title with 218 points, Long Beach State finished second with 184, followed by UC Irvine (157) and CS Fullerton (114).
Washington got things started for the Gauchos on the track, propelling UCSB to the led in the 4x100m relay on her blazing second leg down the backstretch. Sophomore Kylie McCuen carried the baton home to victory and new school record 46.97. Elise Geiger led off and Leticia Pulido ran the third leg for the squad that broke the previous record of 47.04 set by the 1997 team of Ashanti Austin, Jamie Bailey, Jodi Bailey, and Valerie Fleming.
Washington equalled her school record of 53.58 to win the 400m, shattering the previious meet record of 56.01 (Lauren Adams, UC Irvine 2002). McCuen made it a 1-2 finish for UCSB in the one-lapper with a fine 55.10.
Washington concluded her record breaking day by lowering her own UCSB record in the 200m to 24.22 for the victory. McCuen finished second in 24.85.
Haapanen began the meet with a second place finish in the hammer throw (184' 10"). Stephanie Sampson of Long Beach State won the event in a Big West Conference record 190' 5". The Gaucho sophomore thrower from Manteca went on to increase her own meet record in the shot put to 47' 8.25" and break the meet record in the discus for the win at 162' 7". Sophomore Heather Quinn also had a solid day in the throws for UCSB. Quinn finished third in the hammer lauching into #2 on the all-time UCSB list with a personal best 170' 0". She also tossed the discus a seasonal best 145' 5" for fifth place.
|
|
 |
Sophomore twins Lauren and Lindsay Christman gave the Gauchos a stranglehold on the team title with a 1-2 finish in the 800m. Lauren ran 2:11.76, just .15 seconds off her personal best while Lindsay overtook Fullerton's Christine Ruby in the final meters of the race to record a lifetime best 2:12.32 (#7 All-time UCSB). The sisters from Santa Cruz also ran legs in the winning 4x400m relay. McCuen lead off, Lindsay ran second, Lauren third and Elise Geiger anchored the foursome to a season best 3:50.93 (#6 All-time UCSB).
Junior Desiree Leek led a sweep of the top three spots for UCSB in the 3,000m. Leek ran a personal best 9:57.50, senior Tiffany Armel was second (10:06.93) and freshman Megan Lewis took third in 10:10.40.
Junior Cosette Smith took second, and sophomore Roseann Peters finished third in a very close 1,500m race won by Kim Ramirez of Irvine in 4:34.50. Smith ran 4:35.14, and Peters clocked 4:35.20.
Freshman Stellamarie Hall took second in the 400nH in a personal best 63.10 (#8 All-time UCSB). Senior Desiree DeJesus finished second in the 3,000m steeplechase and sophomore Rebecca Richey was the runner-up in the javelin.
Personal bests were recorded by Lauri Schakett in the 100mH (15.61), Ashley Coelho in the 400mH (66.63), Diana Joyner in the 400mH (70.98) Hadas Moser in the 1,500 (4:46.99), and Christie Farson in the 1,500 (4:50.57).
