The win brought about many new Aggie medals and personal bests
By CAROLYN (CARI) FENN — sports@theaggie.org
The UC Davis Women’s Indoor Track and Field team recently traveled to Spokane, Washington to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship. After the extensive two-day competition, the Aggies ended in third place, falling just behind Long Beach State and the University of Hawaii with 108.33 points.
One of the strongest performances for the Aggies came from Brianna Weidler, a third-year animal science major, in the 3000m and 5000m runs. In the 5000m, she placed first, recording a time of 16:21.38, with the next person coming in 10 seconds later with a time of 16:31.81. While Weidler didn’t get her personal best in the 5000m, she still finished strong with a first-place finish.
Weidler also dominated the 3000m with Madison Kackley, fellow Aggie teammate and second-year undeclared major, coming in right behind her. Weidler set a new personal record in the 3000m, finishing with a time of 9:21.00, which beats her previous 9:34.27 time. Weidler came out with another first-place finish, and Kackley received the second-place title with a time of 9:40.83.
Weidler’s performance this weekend comes as no surprise as she has been setting new records throughout her time in Davis on both the cross-country and track-and-field teams. At the Husky Classic in Seattle, just a few weeks prior, Weidler achieved a personal record and set a new school record in the 5000m. Previous to the Husky Classic, Weidler beat the record for the 5000m in December 2023 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener.
Although Weidler gave a strong performance at the tournament, she wasn’t the only one of her Aggie teammates to reach the podium. In the other running events, Kackley won first in the women’s mile with a time of 4:52.30.
The Aggies also placed third overall in the 4×400-meter relay with a season-best time of 3:46.66. The relay team consisted of Cierra Kinsey, a first-year cell biology major, Alexys Ford, a fifth-year psychology major, Janae Oneal, a fourth-year sociology and organizational studies major and Maya Shinnick, a second-year undeclared major.
In the field events, many Aggies reached the podium. Jayme Hendrickson, a third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, placed first and set a new season best in the indoor pentathlon high jump with a 1.68m jump. The difference between a pentathlon high jump and a normal high jump is that the athletes have to partake in four other events during that same day: the pentathlon 60m hurdles, 800m, long jump and shot put. While Hendrickson didn’t place as high in the other events, her performance in the high jump is an impressive feat with the schedule she had that day.
In the standard women’s high jump event, Elizabeth Churchill, a second-year human development major, placed second with a new season-best record at a height of 1.68m. Like Churchill, Kerrington Smith, a fourth-year pharmaceutical chemistry major, also placed second in her event, the triple jump, with an impressive distance of 11.88m. Additionally, Kylee Davis, a second-year African American studies major, placed third in the long jump with a jump of 5.82m.
In the weight throw, Ashpreet Kler, a third-year molecular and medical microbiology major, claimed the first-place title with an 18.72m throw. The second-place thrower didn’t come close to Kler’s score, with a distance of 17.76m, giving Kler a secure 0.96m lead.
While not every one of the Aggies medaled in their events, some of them achieved new personal or season bests. Even though Oriana Jalal, a fourth-year NPB major, did not medal in the 800m — placing 10th in the race — she accomplished a season-best record of 2:16.81. This also occurred with Chloe Arriaga, a fifth-year NPB major, who recieved 10th place in the women’s mile, achieving a record of 5:03.04, which is less than half of the average woman’s mile time of 10:37.
The last runner to achieve a new personal best was Hope Bergmark, a third-year undeclared major, who finished in fourth place in the 5000m. She completed the event with a time of 16:48.64 and a new season-best record.
Looking now at the field events, three other Aggies achieved new personal or season bests. In the high jump, Lauren Spellman, a third-year environmental science and management major, achieved a new season-best record with a 1.63m jump, taking home fifth place in the event. Aiza Sarwar, a second-year NPB major, took home a season-best record in the triple jump event. Sarwar finished in 12th place with an 11.24m jump, beating out her previous 11.17m season-best record.
The last stellar performance of the meet came from Hailey Hernandez, a second-year sustainable agriculture and ecology major, who set a new personal record in the weight throw. She finished fifth in the event but threw a distance of 17.34m, beating her previous personal best of 17.25m.
By the end of the tournament, three Aggies appeared on the MVP report. Weidler was tied for second overall (meaning of all men and women who competed) with three others from the tournament. She also achieved second place in females overall and first place for females in the track event. In both of her second-place finishes, she was behind Long Beach State third-year Hailey Fune, who had competed in more events than Weidler and, as a result, claimed the top spot.
The two other Aggies that placed in the MVP report were Kackley who placed second overall in the female track list and Kler, who tied for second with five others in the female field list.
Next, the Aggies will compete in the NCAA Championships in Boston, Massachusetts on March 8 and 9. While the indoor track-and-field season will be coming to an end after this upcoming tournament, the Aggies will be immediately jumping into their outdoor track-and-field season. Although it’s hard to predict how the Aggies will perform in the outdoor season, if the indoor season has shown anything, there are some stars to keep an eye on.
Written by: Carolyn (Cari) Fenn — sports@theaggie.org
