SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - UC Riverside closed out the Big West Championships in the biggest ways on the biggest stage on Friday and Saturday, collecting top mark after top mark at the Miller and Capriotti Athletics Complex in San Luis Obispo.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Juliana Base (40.27m) kicked off a successful second weekend of conference competition with a pair of team points after scoring in her first Big West javelin. 
• UCR took the top two spots in the women's 3000 steeplechase with Norma Alvarez (10:36.36) taking first and Carolinh Calvert (10:43.84) taking second.  
• Other podium finishes on day one went to Ashraf Abdelmagid in the 3000 steeplechase and Karyssa Owens in the discus throw. 
• Melisa Toilolo put up a lifetime-best 44.94m in the discus for a seventh-place finish. 
• Raykiyat Olukoju advanced to the final of the 100m while Jessica Boyd (11.86) and D'Lainey Nakamoto (11.93) put up lifetime bests.  
• Aaron Fruge and Elijah Yoshinaga both advanced to the final of the men's long jump in their first Big West Championship appearances as Highlanders.  
• Collette Lowengrub (5th/35:27.12) and Dariana Miramontes (6th/36:02.42) capped off day one with impressive runs in the women's 10k.  
• Chelsea Aninyei went from fifth to third on her final triple jump attempt to start day two in San Luis Obispo. More dramatic throwing for UC Riverside came from Owens, who rose from seventh to second in round five of the hammer throw. Both Owens and Aninyei earned podium finishes.  
• Olukoju won the 200m on Saturday with a 23.45 thanks to an emphatic finish down the home stretch.  
• UCR's 4x400 tandem of Nakamoto, Olukoju, Saniyah Starks and Diyana Hackley took their rightful place on the podium after finishing third with a 3:43.71. 

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS 

• Aside from finishing on the podium in the steeplechase, Abdelmagid simultaneously broke the program's 40-year-old record for the second time in six months with a mark of 8:52.44. 
• UC Riverside captured its best finish on the women's side since 2016, finishing fifth on the weekend with 93 points. 
• The Highlanders collected seven total podium finishes over the two days of weekend number two from five different events – six on the women's side and one on the men's side.  
• Owens accounted for two of UCR's seven podium finishes, placing top three in the hammer throw and discus throw. Three of UCR's podium finishes came in the 3000 steeplechase. 

UP NEXT 

• UC Riverside will await any entries for the NCAA West Preliminaries, taking place May 22-25 in Fayetteville, Ark.