The article below originally appeared in the Foster City Patch and is being reprinted with permission.
College of San Mateo thrower Nikki Uikilifi took advantage of competing with an Olympic champion to produce the No. 3 women’s discus throw by a California Community College athlete this season at CSM’s Lucky 13 Invitational on Friday at College Heights Stadium.
Reigning Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton threw 202 feet, eight inches to win the competition, which featured four throwers in the current USA top 20.
Uikilifi (Mills High), the only community college athlete to make the finals, threw 144-3, adding nearly four feet to her previous best of 140-6. She placed sixth overall.
Finishing behind Trafton were Jere Summers (186-6), Summer Pierson (186-5), and Kelechi Anyanwu (182-3) – all marks which rank among the USA’s top 16 performers this season.
Uikilifi was a triple-event winner.
The versatile sophomore out of Mills High won the shot put at 40-6 and the javelin throw at 103-8. She already ranks No. 2 in the state in the javelin this season (133-11) and No. 3 in the shot put (42-7 1/2). Her javelin mark is No. 5 in the nation among two-year college throwers.
“I love this place”:
Brown Trafton, who achieved her personal record (217-2) at CSM in 2009 during the USA Track & Field’s Pacific Association Championships, gushed about the facility after Friday’s competition.
“I love this place,” she said. “This is a great place to throw regardless of the wind conditions. I can’t think of any other community college facility where you can have one of the best throws in the world.”
Brown Trafton announced she’ll return to CSM on May 27 for the annual USATF championships,which will also be an official national pre-Olympic development meet.
Best Bulldogs:
State shot put leader Evan McDaniel won that event at 53-5, ahead of teammates Josh Uikilifi (50-11 ½) and Sione Fanaika (49-5 ¾). The Bulldogs trio ranked 1-3-7 in the state going into Friday’s meet.
Zeke Edward won the men’s javelin throw (164-6), ahead of teammate Anthony Capitulo (152-8). CSM took four of the top five places in both the shot put and javelin throw.
Other top CSM performances:
- Alejandra Marin won the women’s 1,500 meters in 5:15.87 and was third in the 800 meters (2:42.86).
- For the men, Roman Skovronski (fourth in the state) won the 400 meter hurdles in 54.91 seconds and anchored CSM’s winning 4 x 100 meter relay (42.45).
- Also on that team were Keith Richardson, Damian Ross, and Aaron Criswell. Richardson was second in the 200 meters (22.65) and fourth in the 100 (11.11), bucking headwinds in both races.
- Leander Johnson won the high jump (5-8) and was second in the long jump 20-2 1/4).
- Hamza Farhki was second in the 1,500 meters (4:27.40) and in the 5,000 (16:40.89). Delvonte Johnson was third in the 400 meters (50.87).
Top performances by visiting athletes:
- Marcus Monteiro (San Joaquin Delta) won the men’s discus throw at 162-9 (No. 3 in the state).
- state-leader Davon Wilson-Angel (Merritt) won the 110 meter hurdles (14.85).
- Damean Williams (Fresno) won the 100 meters (10.82).
