Men and Women finish second at C2C Indoor Championships

Friday, February 16

Freeman Center- Newport News, VA

1:00 PM Pacific Fri/ 8:00 AM Sat

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

Coast-To-Coast Conference Indoor Championships

Hanna Hekkanen won two individual titles on Saturday

Photo by: UCSC Track and Field

2/17/2024 11:55:00 AM | Men's Track and Field

By: by Kristi Truong

NEWPORT NEWS, VA– The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs rounded off the second day of the 2024 Coast-to-Coast Conference (C2C) Indoor Track and Field Championships with strong performances all across the board.

Erik Dodge placed 1st in Men's Pole Vault with a school-record height of 4.12m (13ft., 6.2in.), surpassing both CNU and Salisbury.

The Banana Slugs dominated the 1-mile event, with Hanna Hekkanen placing 1st and breaking a C2C meet record with a time of 5:07.89. Teammates Kenzie Seymour and Riley Martel-Phillips clinched the 2nd and 3rd positions following Hekkanen. In the Men's 1-mile, Eric Anderson scored 1st with a time of 4:17.37.

Outstanding performances also occurred in both the Men's and Women's 800m and 3000m races. Hekkanen (2:21.49) and Frieda Cedillo (2:24.73) went 1st and 2nd in the Women's 800m, while Marianne Chuang placed fourth in 2:28.68. Aaron Hillberg and Eric Anderson similarly went 1st and 2nd in the Men's 800m. With another record to add to the list, Helena Janku broke both a C2C meet and indoor record for the Women's 3000m event, scoring 1st with a time of 10:10.90. In the Men's 3000m event, Eric Jackson (8:25.74), Casey Orton (8:35.95), and Luke Holland (8:43.56) secured 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Levi Laden produced a great result in the Men's 400m event, getting 1st and finishing with a school-record time of 50.56. The Banana Slugs finished 1st in the Women's 4x400m relay, with Caitlin Donovan, Kayla Galvez, Mae Stafford, and Amaya Cummins contributing to a time of 4:12.53.

UC Santa Cruz placed 2nd overall this weekend for both the men and women, behind host CNU, and head to Iowa next month for the Wartburg NCAA Qualifiers.