Vincent Ta/HIGHLANDER
Vincent Ta/HIGHLANDER

The UC Riverside track and field team took the field at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational for its sixteenth meet of the season and they wasted no time making their mark.

Breana Jemison’s first-place finish in the open section of the women’s discus was the uncontested highlight of UCR’s performance at the Triton Invitational. Jemison shattered the competition with a personal best 48.86-meter heave, breaking her previous best set at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational. Jemison also competed in the women’s hammer throw, breaking through with a distance of 43.42 meters, good enough for a 28th-place finish, about a half-meter shy of her previous personal best.

Caleb Stuart also finished strong for the Highlanders in the men’s hammer throw, recording a fifth-place finish with a 58.89-meter distance. Ahmed Abdul-Rahman also participated in the event, finishing in 18th place with 40.59 meters. The duo of Terry Chiang and Chima Ikeme trailed, finishing in 20th and 21st place, respectively.

Competing in the women’s shot put was Deja Watkins, who earned a 17th-place finish with a 12.68-meter throw in the finals. Watkins also placed 10th in the women’s discus throw with a distance of 50.39 meters. Trailing Watkins in the discus throw was Nikki James, who finished in 19th place with a toss of 46.73 meters. James also competed in the hammer throw, finishing in 18th place with a 51.95-meter distance.

In the men’s discus throw, Travis Smith was the Highlanders’ lone competitor. After breaking a school record in the shot put two weeks ago, Smith finished in 24th place with a 49.69-meter throw.

Earlier in the week long jumper Ted Hooper was named the Big West Conference male field athlete of the week for his performances at the Mt. SAC Relays and Beach Invitational. Hooper took over the top spot in the Big West in long jump with a leap of 7.55m (24’9.25”) last week. The mark was his personal best, moving the Arcadia, Calif. native into 10th place for the Big West region and only seven inches off of the school record set by Don Barfield in 1972.

The Highlanders’ track and field team will compete next at the Big West Conference Championship on May 3, taking place in Northridge, Calif.