DAVIS, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's and women's track teams spent the day competing at the Aggie Open on Saturday hosted by UC Davis at Woody Wilson Track.

Jonathan Chavez earned a third-place finish with another stellar time of 15:01 in the 5000m, while Derrick Pickrel took third and became the first ever Bobcat to cross the finish line in the 2000m Steeplechase. Pickrel finished the event in 6:39.

Favour Nnaji won both of his heats in the 100m and 200m dash with times of 11.15 and 23.32, respectively. Both marks were also good for top six in the entire field. In addition to his sprinting efforts, the Patterson, Calif., native reached 5.23 in the long jump.

Elizette Ysais, Jaydah Aguilar, and Sinthya Duran highlighted UC Merced's women's events. Ysais and Aguilar each posted sixth place finishes in an event with Ysais running the 5000m in 18:58 and Aguilar clocking a time of 2:25 in the 800m.

Duran performed well in sprints recording UC Merced best's in the 200m and 400m. Duran's 400m time was 1:02, winning her heat by two seconds and taking eighth in the field overall. The freshman turned in a 200m time of 28.30.

Other top ten finishes for UC Merced on Saturday include Noah Vasquez in the 2000m steeplechase (4th/6:45), Carissa Estrada in the 2000m steeplechase (7th/8:14), Anjaneesa Ward in the 5000m (7th/19:28), Chavez in the 1500m (8th/4:00), and Sharvin Manjrekar in the 800m (10th/2:04).

UC Merced's 4X400 relay team of Fernando Oliveros, Aaron Fuentes, Nick Montijo, and Chavez won their section with a time of 3:44.

Looking ahead, UC Merced will compete at West Coast Relays hosted by Fresno State University in Clovis, Calif., on Friday, March 31.