Events: Woody Wilson Classic
Host: UC Davis
Where: Woody Wilson Track at Toomey Field
When: Saturday at 10:30 a.m. (field) and 4 p.m. (track)
Who to watch: Sophomore Sirena Williams became the third member of the UC Davis women’s track team to receive weekly conference honors this past week.
The Fresno, Calif. native garnered the title of Big West Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after running the 100-meter hurdles in a school-record 14.06 seconds at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational at UCLA last weekend. The previous record was set by Emily Azevedo in 2005.
Did you know? At last year’s Picnic Day, the Aggies captured five events at the 2007 Woody Wilson Open despite receiving no help from Mother Nature. In all, four men’s field events were cancelled (pole vault, high jump, triple jump and shot put) while the skies rained on many of the other events.
Preview: Rain and all, the Aggies made last year’s Woody Wilson Classic a memorable one. This time, sunny skies are ahead, and UC Davis’ outlook of success is even brighter.
Returning to the event are seniors Micah Grant and Nicole Theus, who won last year’s 100-meter races with times of 10.86 and 12.19 seconds, respectively. Theus will again race in the 100-meter while Grant will compete in the 200- and 400-meter.
In total, over 600 athletes from as many as 22 different schools will be competing at the open track and field event. Among the schools that will be sending athletes are California, Chico State, Nevada, Sacramento State, San Jose State, Santa Clara and San Francisco.
Eighty-three UC Davis athletes will be in competition, looking to set individual marks to qualify for Regionals.
Senior high jumper Jah Bennett will aim to clear the seven-foot mark for the second time in his collegiate career. In a dual against Fresno State on Apr. 28, 2007, the Yerba Buena High School product soared to a mark of 7 feet and 0.25 inches – the second-highest in school history.
Senior Kim Conley will race in the Jill Peckler Invitational 1,500 meters. The event is named after Jill Peckler, a 1996 Division II All-American track star at UC Davis who was killed by a drunk driver on Jan. 17, 1997.
The event is named in honor of Eugene S. “Woody” Wilson, who coached track, cross country, men’s basketball and football from 1927 to 1959. He was a 1983 inductee in the Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame
