IRVINE- Calif.- Three throwing events, two multi events, and one school record later, the Golden Eagle Invitational is through two of its three days of competition. Day one saw the beginning of the multi events with the heptathlon and decathlon both getting underway. The women completed four of seven events while the men worked their way through five out of ten. Day 2 saw the beginning of the weekend's throwing events and the completion of the multi events, resulting in another school record by Giovana Pelascini.
 
Giovana Pelascini not only won her collegiate opener in the heptathlon, but it ended the same way her collegiate opener in the pentathlon did only two weeks ago… in a school record! Pelascini reached new heights in more than a few events over the two days which led to demolishing the 2012 record by almost 400 points. The freshman scored 4,617 points which also earns her an NCAA DII provisional mark in the event.
 
Joining Pelascini in the heptathlon were teammates Leah Powick, and Riley Norris. Powick made her career opener in the multi events and scored 3,642 points while Norris completed her second-ever heptathlon and broke the 4,000 point barrier for the first time at 4,029 points.
 
Concordia's lone decathlete, Tyler Denes, made his season-opener in the two-day battle. Denes hit PR's in eight of the ten events leading to his highest-ever overall score of 6,367 to win the event. The senior from Canada also hit his first NCAA DII provisional in the multi after racing to a near twenty-second PR in the last event, the 1500m run. Denes sits a mere 33 points from CUI's school record and will compete in the decathlon again next month with hopes of breaking that barrier and improving his national ranking.
 
In addition to the multis, the throwers took a trip over to Orange Coast College where the hammer, weight throw, and discus were contested. CUI entered ten throwers in the hammer throw and the discus. Both sides had some solid performances, but freshman, Trey Vergenz, tossing the discus 49.02 meters in his collegiate opener stole the show.
 
On the mens side, Vergenz had a solid day in the hammer as well hitting 44.77m for his first mark in the event, accompanied by his discus performance that placed him only a meter under the national provisional. The dynamic junior duo of Ryan Santana and Hunter Hornaday opened better than they have in the past in disc and hammer respectively. Grad student, Jaylen Newman, also started his final season better than he ever has in both events.
 
For the women, Isabella Torrez threw an impressive 36.95m in the hammer throw to nearly double her personal best from the 2023 season. Torrez has only been training as a thrower since March of 2023 after joining the team in fall 2022 as a hurdler, but she has experienced vast improvement in that time. The sophomore also hit a new PR in the discus a few hours later.
 
Graduate student Tayla Crenshaw was the top Golden Eagle in both throwing events. She won the discus throw with a 43.05 and took second in the hammer at 45.72. The ladies took places 2-6 in hammer throw with performances from Crenshaw, Sarah Fajer, Khaiya Simpson, Torrez, and Ashley Heyer all over 35 meters. Heyer competed in her first meet as a Golden Eagle and Jasmyn Rios made her outdoor debut while Simpson and Torrez both opened better than they have in the past years in both events.

All of the open running events and the remainder of the open field events will be contested on Saturday at Golden Eagles Field. 
 
To follow along with day 3 of the Golden Eagle Invitational or see Day 1 and 2 results CLICK HERE
For meet schedule and other information CLICK HERE