Highlanders Set for Mid-Week Competition

Wednesday, March 24

Los Angeles, CA

11:00 AM

UC Riverside

Jim Bush Legends Invitational

Highlanders Set for Mid-Week Competition

3/24/2021 7:55:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The University of California, Riverside (UCR) Track & Field team will be splitting their squad and competing in two non-traditional mid-week track meets. The majority of our Highlanders will be making their way to Westwood to compete in the Jim Bush Legends Invitational hosted at UCLA on Wednesday, March 24. The majority of UCR's jumpers, sprinters and throwers will be making their season debuts at UCLA versus the likes of UCLA, University of Washington and UC Irvine. The UCR distance group will wait an extra day before heading to the Anteater Distance Twilight hosted by UC Irvine.

At UCLA, reigning Big West Conference Javelin Champion, JT Ober III will make his season debut in his championship winning event. Also, Quinn Williams, reigning Big West 400m Hurdle Champion will make his debut in the one-lap hurdle event. The Highlanders anticipate big opening competitions from Brian Nnoli & Anthony Reyes in the triple jump, FR Martin Billings (110m H) and the 400m opener for Andrew Jackson. Jackson already won the Ben Brown Invitational (hosted by CSU-Fullerton) 800m two weeks ago.

The UC Riverside women have a lot to be excited about as well. Shiloh Corrales-Nelson returns to action after her season opener at CSU-Fullerton, two weeks ago. She'll be looking to improve on her season best marks from two weeks ago. Purnima Gunarathna will open her season in her staple event, high jump. Gunarathna is a former fourth place finisher at the Big West Championships as well as a fourth place finish at the MPSF Indoor Championships in the High Jump.

"I am excited that this opportunity became available to us. In these COVID-19 times, it's been a bit of a challenge to find competitive meets for our athletes. When UCLA called, we jumped at the opportunity to get our student-athletes these much needed competition opportunities," Director of Track & Field Nate Browne commented. The action starts for the Highlanders at 10:30 pm on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the distance runners will head to Irvine for the Anteater Distance Twilight. Last time out, Arman Irani ran the ninth fastest time in program history at 5000m (14:11.71). He'll try his hand at the much shorter 1500m race. Carolinh Calvert, will run her second race as a Highlander (her 5000m debut, 17:01.55 ranks her eighth all-time at UCR) this time, competing in the 1500m run. "We have eight athletes competing at Irvine on Thursday, and I am really excited for each of them. They'll have great fields to compete against and I am confident that they're physically and mentally prepare to compete hard. We consistently talk about racing and competing hard and I believe that this group is prepared to execute," distance Coach Rob Hansen added.

The action starts in Irvine at 5:30 pm on Thursday.

Both meets will have live results available at www.finishedresults.com and on the Finished Results app.