UC Santa Barbara Official Athletic Site

April 3, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The Gauchos are set to take on the Stanford Invitational this weekend, Fri-Sat Apr. 4-5. The Stanford Invitational is one of the most prestigious track meets on the west coast, with a huge field of competitors that includes some of the best collegiate athletes in the nation.

Beginning Friday morning, the meet runs day and night for two days, with the daytime sessions featuring the sprinting events and field events, and the nighttime sessions featuring the distance races. Field events begin in the morning and continue running throughout the meet until they are completed.

Each event at this meet has several sections to accommodate the large amount of entries. For most of the sprinting events, Friday's competitions consist of preliminary heats to narrow down each respective field to a final heat that runs on Saturday. Field events are divided into sections according to year-to-date performances, with most of the top sections competing on Saturday. The distance races are also divided into sections, with the top sections competing on Friday night in all events except the 1500m, which takes place on Saturday night.

Friday's schedule begins early in the morning at 8:45 a.m. with section five of the women's 5000m. There is a break at approximately 4:45 p.m., and then the distance carnival begins at 5:36 p.m., featuring the top sections (men's and women's) of the steeplechase, 5000m, and 10,000m. Saturday's events begin at 9:00 a.m. and break at 5:30 p.m. The distance carnival follows once again at 6:00 p.m., this time featuring the top sections of the 1500m.

Highlighting the entries list for the Gauchos are Bethany Nickless in section one of the women's steeplechase, Matt Barkley and Jeff Stewart in the top section of the men's shot put, Michael Powers in section two of the men's steeplechase, Chris Ashley in section two of the men's 5000m, and Danielle Domenichelli in section four of the women's 5000m.

The Gauchos will be competing alongside teams that include Arkansas, Baylor, UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, Florida State, and Tennessee, among many others. The meet will be streamed live over the internet courtesy of Flotrack, which can be accessed by clicking the link at the top of this story.

-- www.UCSBgauchos.com --