Riverside, Calif. – The University of California, Riverside (UCR) track and field team competed in four separate meets across three days over the weekend.  UCR hosted the UC Riverside Distance Invitational on Thursday night and the UC-Riverside Sprints Invitational on Friday.  The Highlanders also competed at the Long Beach Throws/Jumps Fest on Friday and Saturday and one of UCR's top distance runners traveled to Fresno, CA for the West Coast Relays, hosted by Fresno State on Friday.

Arman Irani competed in the men's Invitational 5000m race at West Coast Relays late on Friday night. The race started at 10:30 pm to avoid the daytime 99 degree high temperatures. As the meet progressed, the Fresno State campus suffered a large power outage and the meet was in a complete black-out. The meet was delayed an hour, before FSU staff was able to rent extra lights and drove several large trucks to the side of the track where they showed their high beam headlights. In dramatic fashion, some of the fastest races in the country were run under the headlights of pick-up trucks and spectator cell phones! Only moments before Arman's race, were the stadium lights restored and Irani was able to compete in some semblance of normalcy. With a flurry of energy in the stadium, after the dramatic events of the previous hour, Irani was able to muster a banner performance. Irani finished 15^th among a field of 24 of the nations best 5000m racers. His time of 13:54.20 also earned him the ranking of 3^rd fastest all-time at UCR.  

Also on Friday, Shiloh Corrales-Nelson eclipsed her previous personal best to set a new Filipino National Record in the women's hammer throw; her new mark, 53.78m (176'5") also earned her a 2^nd place finish at Long Beach. She was also able to secure a 6^th place finish in the shot put. Also at Long Beach, JT Ober III tossed a new season's best in the men's javelin throw. He finished 4^th overall with a throw of 56.72m (186'1")! On Saturday at Long Beach, the men's triple jumpers showed out with 3^rd and 4^th place performances respectively.  Brian Nnoli led the way with a mark of 14.32m (46' 11.75"), followed by Titan Ruotolo and his best of 14.16m (46'5.5").

At UC Riverside, several top marks were scored on the oval. The women's 4x100m comprised of Nia Jomes, Delaney Harris, Ivana Hill and Chudney McGehee finished 2^ndoverall running a season-best 48.84 seconds. At 800m, FR Andrew Jackson competed on both Thursday and Friday afternoons. Jackson finished 2^nd on Thursday in a time of 1:52.31 and 3^rd on Friday with a time of 1:53.29. On Thursday, he was trailed closely by teammate Zach Cadima, who secured a 3^rd place finish in a lifetime best 1:58.14. Defending Big West 400m Hurdles Champion Quinn Williams set another season's best time, 54.56 for a 4^th place finish.

Rounding out the competition was top steeplechase Freshman Carolinh Calvert. She ran the 2^nd fastest time of her career to earn a 3^rd place finish (10:51.79).  

The Highlanders have the week off to prepare for the Big West Championships hosted by UC Irvine starting next Thursday afternoon (May 13).