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LA JOLLA, Calif. - The skies cleared and the sun shined brightly at Triton Track & Field Stadium on Saturday for the San Diego Collegiate Challenge, where the UC San Diego track and field teams came away with a first-place finish on the men's side and a very respectable second-place showing on the women's side.

"We had some amazing performances," said UCSD men's head coach Tony Salerno. "It's obvious that our athletes like to compete at home because we had a number of national qualifiers. As far as team score, the men's team did quite well."

The men accumulated 213 points in all, easily holding off second-place Cal State San Marcos, with 119. Facing a more competitive field, the women scored 197 total points, just 11 behind first-place SanDiego State's 208.

"For the women's side, if we were just close to San Diego State, that's success," Salerno said. "They're a very good program now and fresh off of a Mountain West Conference Indoor win and if they come out as a full force, they're going to be tough to beat as we are right now."

Out of the 18 events on the men's side, a Triton finished first in eight of them, including six events in which Tritons occupied two of the top three spots. For the women, five Tritons won events. In addition, the UCSD women took two of the top three slots in four events.

More importantly, eight Tritons either improved or earned an NCAA provisional qualifying mark at the meet, including three women and five men.

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