College Roundup: UCI women finish third

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Big West Conference Championships

DAVIS — UC Irvine recorded the program’s highest finish in 12 years Saturday.

Coach Jeff Perkins’ Anteaters totaled 83 points to place third behind UC Davis (194) and Cal State Northridge (183.33) in the meet at Toomey Field and Woody Wilson Track on the UC Davis campus.

This was UCI’s best finish in the conference meet since placing third at the 2002 Championships.

UCI junior Itos Aikhionbare won her second event of the meet Saturday, placing first in the shotput with a mark of 49 feet, 3 1/2 inches. She won the discus (167-9) on Friday.

Junior Paige Bushnell finished second in the 400-meter hurdles in 60.25, the No. 7 time in Anteater history. Bushnell placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles Saturday with a time of 14.09.

Freshman Megan George was third in the 100-meter hurdles in a career-best 13.76, improving on her No. 3 time in the UCI record book.

Sophomore Kaulyn Lee-McNeill placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in 60.74 and senior Ericka Nowell was eighth in 67.35.

Sophomore Megan Benson finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.00.

Junior Chelsea Schneider was seventh in the 1,500 meters (4:35.02) and eighth in the 800 meters (2:20.55).

UCI’s 4x100 relay of Melanie Speech, George, Charity Lyons and Benson finished fifth in 47.14.

The 4x400 relay was also fifth with Saniya Syed, George, Lee-McNeill and Bushnell finishing with a time of 3:48.51.

Several UCI student-athletes are expected to compete in the NCAA West Preliminary Round at Fayetteville, Ark., May 30-June 1.

UC Irvine senior Lacey Surak Aikhionbare won an individual title Friday.

Surak defended her championship in the javelin with a mark of 152 feet, three inches on her final throw of the competition.

Freshman Ariel Cheng was second in the pole vault with a personal-best 12-8 1/4.

Sophomore Melanie Speech was fifth in the javelin (a personal-best 137-3) and Bridget Devaney placed eighth in the hammer throw (164-4).

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MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Big West Conference Championships

DAVIS — UC Irvine junior Mason Miller finished third in the shot put to pace the Anteaters on Friday at UC Davis.

Miller’s mark was 56 feet, 11 1/2 inches.

Tommy Newton-Neal was eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9 minutes, :34.76 seconds.

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MEN’S TENNIS

Embry Riddle 5, Vanguard 1

MOBILE, Ala. — The No. 4-seeded Lions fell to the defending national champion in the NAIA Tournament semifinals on Friday at the Mobile Tennis Center.

It was the second straight season in which the Lions were eliminated in the national semifinals. The 2014 Golden State Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champions end the season 20-5.

Sophomore No. 1 singles player Stefan Kilchhofer, the GSAC Player of the Year, finished the season 22-0, though he was trailing Deni Zmack, 6-4, 5-3, when the outcome of the match was finalized.

Filip Burnac and Daymon Johnson won at No. 3 doubles to produce the lone set victory on Thursday.

The loss to Embry Riddle was the first of the season to an NAIA opponent for Vanguard, which will return its entire lineup in 2015.

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MEN’S GOLF

NCAA Regional

EUGENE, Ore. — UC Irvine junior Pete Fernandez shot a 75 in Saturday’s final round to finish 39th in the NCAA Regional at the Eugene (Ore.) Country Club.

Fernandez, an All-Big West First Team honoree this season, completed the regional with a 54-hole total of 224 on the par-70 course that measures 6,990 yards.

Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers shot a 71 Saturday and claimed medalist honors at 204.

Oregon’s Thomas Lim fired a 66 in the final round and placed second at 210. Chattanooga’s Chris Robb and Liberty’s Niklas Lindstrom tied for third at 212.

Stanford, Oregon, Oklahoma, Houston and South Carolina, along with Robb, the individual qualifier, advance to the finals at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan., May 23-28.