FRESNO, Calif. – The University of California, Merced track team had a strong showing on opening day, highlighted by five top five finishes and five program records.
Martel Fields opened his campaign with a pair of noteworthy finishes, placing second in the 200m dash in 21.35 and taking third in the 100m dash in 10.76. Fields is UC Merced's all-time record holder in both events. His 200m finish came in the field of 55 sprinters.
Fields was also a part of the Bobcats program record-setting 4X100 relay team along with Naseem Hassaan and freshmen Seneca Ybarra and Nyj Joiner. The relay team hit a program-record time of 41.32 and finished fourth.
Joyce Nichet bursted off the blocks to start her sophomore campaign with a fifth place finish in the 100m, clocking a time of 12.78.
Cole Rommelfanger recorded a fourth-place finish in the 800m with a time of 1:58.95.
Leslie Aquino led the women's distance team with a program-record time of 4:52.99 in the 1500m, good for 11th in the field of 67. She finished 12th with a time of 10:47.61 in the 3000m event.
Riki Moscoso made his UC Merced track debut by breaking the program's 3000m record with a time of 8:42.61. He placed 10th out of 69 runners.
Ybarra (59.94/400H) and Eliseo Llamas (12.03m/TJ) set program-records in their collegiate debut. Lyra Barton set a new program-record in the triple jump, 9.82m.
Chelsea Anyanwu impressed in her collegiate debut in the 200m dash (26.84) and 100m dash (13.14). Both times are good for third and fourth in program history, respectively.
Sharvin Manjrekar (8:51.14/3000m), Buffalo Soito (9:01.39/3000m), and Irene Martinez (11:33.71/3000m) also recorded new top five times in program history. Soito made his collegiate debut.
Ciarra Cabrera-Martinez and Delia Rodriguez turned in top ten program times in both the 800m and 1500m in their debuts.
Up next, UC Merced will return to the track on Saturday, March 7 at the Kim Duyst Invitational hosted by Stanislaus State in Turlock, Calif.
