Despite windy conditions, several Pirate track and field athletes achieved Southern California and CCCAA State qualifying standards at the Antelope Valley College Spring Invitational Friday in Lancaster. David Lopez, Kimora Pooler and Cynthia Tuzak all meet state automatic performance standards in the 100 meters, shot put, and discus, respectively. Jaedon Rogers, Brieanna Tafoya and Olivia Burton also captured individual golds for VC.
Lopez stormed to the lead early in the 100 meters, running a time of 10.53 which is the third-fastest time in the state and No. 5 all-time at Ventura College. He also came from behind to win the 200 meters.
Pooler won the women's shot put with a mark ranking her third in SoCal and sixth in the state. She topped off her day with second-place throw in the javelin and a third place finish in the discus.
Tuzak, already having met the "B" standard in the discus, hit a seasonal best mark in winning the event and now ranks No. 2 in SoCal, No. 6 in the state, and No. 8 all-time at VC.
Other Pirates scoring first place finishes include Rogers in the long jump, Tafoya in the 800 meters and Olivia Burton in the 3,000 meters. Tafoya had already established an "A" mark in the 800m earlier this season.
The Pirates had several team members finish in the meet's Top-3. Lilly Christenson won silver in the women's 100 meters and triple jump and Darius Johnson placed third in the men's discus and javelin. Rogers placed second in the men's triple jump. Jake Turville was third in the men's 800m and Everardo Garcia came in third in the men's 3k. Jacob Guzman claimed bronze in the men's shot put and Tatiana Garcia ran third in the women's 3k.
"We had some fine performances today, setting up the squad for the stretch run to the WSC Championships April 19th at Moorpark College," commented head coach Tony Veney.
"The high ranked performances are nice for us right now but we can't sit back and think we're set."
The Pirates next travel to San Luis Obispo on Friday March 29 for the Western State Conference scoring meet hosted by Cuesta College. Field events start at 11:00 am with the first track race going off at 1:00pm.