ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – The University of California, Merced outdoor track teams swept the California Pacific Conference Track & Field Championships for the second straight season. The two-day conference meet held at Soka University Track and Field Facility concluded Friday afternoon.
The Bobcats swept the team titles behind a program-record 187 points on the men's side and 170 points on the women's side. The men's point total was 109 points more than the runner-up, Embry-Riddle. UC Merced women beat ERAU by 33 points.
Jonathan Chavez won all three of his individual events and was a part of the winning 4X800 Relay Team on his way to his second straight Cal Pac Male Athlete of the Year award. He defended his titles in the 800m (1:57.08), 1500m (4:02.39), and 5000m (14:53.22). His 800m and 5000m times were Cal Pac Championship meet records.
Vicente Velarde was named the Cal Pac Coach of the Year for the second straight campaign.
UC Merced earned a total of 13 gold medals and had a combined 15 second and third-place finishes. Also of note, the Bobcats swept the men's podium in the 800m and 1500m.
Clarisel Lopez earned three golds in as many opportunities and she set program-records across the board in the 100m (12.45), 200m (25.72/meet record), and long jump (5.27m). She added another first-place finish as a part of the 4x400 Relay Team.
Brieanna Anderson, Elizette Ysais, Sharvin Manjrekar, and Martel Fields also earned a first-place finish.
Anderson earned gold in the 800m with a time of 2:26.82. Three Bobcats were within five seconds of Anderson to give the Bobcats four of the top five finishers in that event. Jaydah Aguilar took third in 2:27.69, while Alexandra Lopez (4th/2:30.38) and Jailyn Batis (5th/2:30.99) also scored.
Anderson helped the Bobcats elsewhere with a third-place finish in the 1500m and as part of the winning 4x800 relay team.
Ysais earned gold in the 10000m run with a program-record time of 38.24.21. She added a second-place finish in the 5000m (19:00.69) and took fourth with a time of 5:06.55 in the 1500m.
Manjrekar crossed the finish line as a Cal Pac Champion in the 3000m steeplechase with a NAIA "B" Standard and a Cal Pac Championship record time of 9:22.66. Later on, he took fourth in the 800m and 1500m.
Fields highlighted the men's sprint team with a program-record and first-place finish of 21.95 in the 200m.
Like the women's team, the Bobcats most dominant event on the men's side was the 800m. UC Merced earned the top five finishes and following Chavez was Cole Rommelfanger (2:01.41), Aaron Fuentes (2:05.21), Manjrekar (2:05.94), and Alberto Guevera (2:06.75). Fuentes ran a personal-best.
Velarde's men's squad also had the first four finishers in the 1500m. Chavez took gold and then Rommelfanger (4:06.31), Joshua Riley (4:06.46), and Manjrekar (4:07.33) made up spots 2-4. Rommelfanger ran a personal-best.
The women had a good day in the 1500m with A. Lopez (2nd/4:56.49) and Anderson (3rd/4:59.12) earning podium finishes. Ysais finished fourth in the event.
Riley finished second in the 10000m with a time of 33:05.73, while Alberto Alves took third with a personal-best time of 33:12.02.
Favour Nnaji crossed the finish line in the 100m in second place in a program-record 10.66.
A.Lopez, who led the Bobcats with five total entries and earned a podium finish in the 1500m, also earned silver in the 3000m steeplechase in 11.51.59. She finished fourth or better in every individual event.
In the 400m, Fanny O'Vincent took second in 1:01.48 and Sinthya Duran placed third clocking a 1:01.56. O'Vincent's mark was a program-record.
Martel Fields ran a program-record 51.50 in the 400m prelims. He finished sixth in the finals.
All four of the Bobcats relay teams were successful.
Women's 4X400 Relay Team (C. Lopez, Duran, O'Vincent, Amelia Drummond)
- Took gold with a program-record time of 4:12.15
Women's 4X800 Relay Team (Anderson, Layla Muhammed, Aguilar, A. Lopez)
Men's 4X800 Relay Team (Chavez, Guevera, Rommelfanger, Manjrekar)
- Took gold with program-record time of 8:06.23
Men's 4X400 Relay Team (Fields, Rommelfanger, Justin Noble, Shabach Karathi)
- Took silver with a program-record time of 3:32.45
Up next, UC Merced will compete at Oxy Invite in Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, May 4 for another chance to hit national standards ahead of the NAIA National Championships.
