UC Santa Cruz Athletics
C2C Outdoor Championships
Banana Slugs men and women both place fourth at Coast-to-Coast Championship
5/1/2021 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
SALISBURY, MARYLAND - UC Santa Cruz opened the Coast To Coast era with some amazing performances at the Conference Championship Meet in Maryland.
Despite bringing only 26 athletes total, UCSC placed fourth out of the six teams competing, each team scoring 97 points. It was the first time in program history UC Santa Cruz competed in a meet outside of California.
Senior Mason Pierce was the first of three Conference champs on the men's side. The school record holder in the Pole Vault, Pierce won the event over Allan Pedin of Christopher Newport with a clearance of 4.56 meters (14 feet 11.5 inches). Santiago Edinger won the 800 meters with a PR of 1.57.35, the third-best mark in school history.
Senior Conrad Pereira was 4th in the 110 hurdles, 3rd in the discus and won the High Jump title by clearing 6' 4.25", just a half inch from his PR. The men were second in both relays. In the 4x 100 Ethan Bizzack, Drew Koesel, Rylie Miller and Nolan Rand were just 0.28 seconds from the school-record that was set in 2004. In the 4x400 relay, UCSC was edged for the title by just one-twentieth of a second.
Nine of the 12 women who UCSC brought scored a top four finish. The Banana Slugs took three of the four distance events. Hana Yamamoto won the 800 meters in 22:21.9. Elana Muzzy won the women's 1500 Meters by nearly five seconds, and with Amelia Huster went 1-2 in the 5000 meters. Abby Klein was sixth, less than 24 hours after placing fourth in the 10000 meters.
Abby McPhillips edged Salisbury's Colleen Howard, the top-ranked High Jumper in the nation for the Conference title and a Slug sweep in the event. McPhillips also placed third in the 400 meters, and helped the 4 x 400 relay win. Yamamoto was able to burst out to a big lead on the second leg as the Banana Slugs won by 4.50 seconds.
Christopher Newport University won both men's and women's titles.
Players Mentioned
