IRVINE, Calif. - After three days of competition the Idaho men's track team is in first place with 54 points, while the women's team is in second with 31 points just behind UC Irvine at 33 points.

Senior Joachim Olsen defended his 2001 Big West discus title successfully today defeating all other competitors by more than 10 feet. Olsen's throw of 192 feet, 7 inches for first place was followed by fellow Vandal Simon Stewart with a throw of 180-0 to claim the second best mark of the day. Stewart also finished third in the hammer with a throw of 194-11.

In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior Ryan Jensen ran a very determined race with a personal best time of 9:02.12 to finish in first place. The closest competitor to Jensen was UC Santa Barbara's JT Service finishing ten seconds later with a time of 9:12.55.

Junior Brooke Vogel battled UC Irvine's Jenny Liou for first place for all of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Vogel kept just a slight advantage until the home stretch when Liou, with a final-effort surged ahead to steal first place with a time of 10:57.00. Vogel finished in second with a time of 10:58.81. Freshman Dusty Schvaneveldt also scored for the Vandals in the race finishing in sixth at 11:15.10.

The Vandals begin the last day of competition tomorrow with the women's hammer at 9 a.m., while the finals for the sprints begin at 1 p.m.