UC Santa Barbara
Cal Poly Finishes Regular Season With Blue-Green Rivalry Meet vs. UCSB
5/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Mustang Women's Squad Outscores Gauchos at Final Prep for Big West Conference Championships Held Next Two Weekends at UC Riverside
Sambel Leads Cal Poly Men by Posting No. 4 Discus Mark in School History as Team Combines to Win 20 of 38 Events Altogether
MONTECITO, Calif. — The Cal Poly track and field program competed at its last meet prior to the Big West Championships on Saturday afternoon, splitting the Blue-Green Rivalry dual against UC Santa Barbara at Westmont College.
On the men's side, Mustang sophomore Arnie Sambel earned two wins, including in the discus with a throw of 175 feet on his initial attempt. The mark, which was a PR by more than seven feet, tied for No. 4 in school history and is currently the third-best throughout the conference this spring. Cal Poly senior Josh Hines was second, at a season-best 157-2.
Sambel's shot put victory came at 52 feet, 11.5 inches (barely farther than fellow sophomore Nate Vickers' career-best 52-10).
Meanwhile, the women's squad swept the sprints on the way to a 108.5-89.5 overall win over the Gauchos.
To start, Cal Poly posted a dominant win in the 400-meter relay, as sophomore Daijah Joe-Smith, junior Ajah Love, freshman Ciara Levy and sophomore Jessica Rasmussen teamed to win by a 2.1-second gap, finishing at 45.92, just three-hundredths of a second off the third-fastest time throughout the Big West so far.
Later in the day, Joe-Smith and Love went 1-2 in the 100-meter dash, at 11.93 and 12.15, before Love and freshman Chloe Carlson did the same in the 200, at 24.64 and 25.62. Additionally, Levy went on to claim the 100 hurdles in 14.93.
Also among the Mustangs' wins, sophomore Mallory Patino bettered her own 400 hurdles PR — which remained No. 10 in school history — from 1:01.83 to 1:01.50.
Kendal Nielsen was also a multiple-event winner, as the junior was first in both the long (at 17-11) and triple jump (38-6.75), with both marks coming on her third attempts.
Cal Poly also chalked up five points each thanks to victories from:
- Ashley Windsor, jr., in the 800 meters — at 2:09.12
- Sara Van Dyke, jr., 1,500 — 4:31.27
- Annie Whitford, jr., 3,000 steeplechase — 11:14.98 (edging sophomore teammate Mary Hillis' 11:30.03)
- Danielle Bryan, jr., high jump — 5 feet, 8.75 inches (which she had also cleared on two other occasions this season)
- Kiely Osby, fr., shot put — 43-5.75 (on her second release)
The runner-up for the 3,000, sophomore Molly Haar, surpassed her previous lifetime best by more than 20 seconds, finishing in 9:46.84.
The UCSB men prevailed 107-96, but in addition to Sambel, Cal Poly added wins from six different student-athletes, all sophomores:
- Joey Sanfilippo in the 100-meter dash — at 10.84 seconds
- Tyler Rohde, 200 — 22.21 (just in front of Sanfilippo's 22.28)
- Amir Bradley, 400 — a season-best 47.97
- David Galvez, 3,000 steeplechase — a PR of 9:12.46 (ahead of freshman Devon Grove at 9:19.84)
- Danny Shellworth, high jump — 6-4.75 (on two fewer attempts than second-place classmate Danny Yeager)
- Brad Beekman, pole vault — 16-0.75 (equaling his own team high for this year)
A few members of the team rested for the pending start of the postseason, which will begin next week with the multi-event competitions.
"We had a lot of solid performances," Cal Poly director Mark Conover said of Saturday's showings. "There were positive results all around; even people taking second or third place had great days. So as a group, I think we're in a good spot heading into conference."
The Big West finals are set to open with the decathlon and heptathlon at UC Riverside on Friday and Saturday, before resuming a week later, when the Highlanders will host everything else from May 15-16. The last day's action will be televised on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
