Pole vaulters leap into UCSB record books

By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS

The UCSB track and Field teams were back in action after taking a weekend off from meets as the Gauchos went across town Saturday to Westmont College for the Westmont Classic.

After a day’s worth of competition, the pole vaulters had some of the best performances as Saturday’s marks at the Montecito college put two Gauchos in the record books.

Melodie Quiroz brought home the win today, coming out on top in the pole vault. She hit a mark of 3.80 meters to put herself in fourth in the UCSB record books in this event.

Joining her on the men’s side was Eitan Goore, who finished second in the pole vault. His time on Westmont’s campus was topped with a mark of 5.00 meters, the seventh-best height in UC Santa Barbara history. The Gauchos’ success didn’t end with the pole vault.

The freshmen shined for the Gauchos with Dario Rock, Madeleine Conte and Finn Andrews showing up strong. All three of these new Gauchos won their events while having some of their strongest showings since coming to Santa Barbara.

Along with those great performances, the men’s team swept the top three spots in the 200 and 800 while securing the top five spots in the discus. The women, on the other hand, swept two events, taking the top four spots in both 1500 and 400 hurdles.

Here are all of the Gauchos who won their events Saturday: Brendon Fong: 200M; Finn

Andrews: 400M; Advait Krishnan: 800M; Aamir Rehman: 5000M; Dario Rock: 110M hurdles; Tyler Holl: 400M hurdles; Andy Buttrell: shot put; Jared Freeman: discus, hammer; Sophia Pardo: 100M, 200M; Lauren Lum: 1500M; Madeleine Conte: 400M Hurdles; Emma Barthel: long jump; Kennedy Johnson: triple jump; Amanda Spear: discus, hammer.

The Gauchos will send their athletes to two meets next weekend as a part of the team heads to Palo Alto for the Stanford Invitational while a second group heads to the San Francisco State Invitational. Both events will take place on Friday and Saturday.

Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com