The Ventura College men's and women's track and field teams participated in the So Cal Championships. Alisha Greenlaw and Danielle Colvin were able to advance. to the Community College State Championships. The pair not only qualified for the opportunity to compete for a state title, but also set school records along the way.
Already, the school record holder in the 100 meter hurdles, Greenlaw won her specialty only eight one hundreds of a second from her Pirate record. What made the win all the more exciting was having to run into a stiff headwind, which prevented Greenlaw from lowering her mark. Greenlaw returned to place seventh in the 100 meters in a lifetime best 12.20 eclipsing the 12.24 set by Anicia Rimm set in 1998.
Colvin started her day capturing second in the women's long jump spanning 18'5.25" and taking over the second spot on the Pirate all-time list, narrowly missing the school record by less than two inches. In the triple jump, Colvin produced another big effort, this time a school record 38'7.75" to obliterate the old school record of 37'3" set in 1986 by Cathy Espinoza.
Colvin and Greenlaw teamed with Aizabelle Sarmiento and Marissa Tobin to place seventh in the 4x100meter relay with a time of 49.32, only surpassed by three other teams and this year's line up (49.02 at this year's WSC Finals). Tiara Litonjua, running her first So Cal meet, placed third in the 400 hurdle in a lifetime best of 64.29 and fifth all-time.
Tobin placed seventh in the pole vault and since she attained the state automatic standard, she will advance to the state finals. Tobin, Greenlaw, Colvin, and Litonjua teamed up for a fifth place finish in the 4x400 relay. Their time of 3:59.74 was fourth fastest all time and the best relay mark since 1984. The women's team placed sixth overall with 40 points representing the highest finish by the Pirate women since 2002.
The men had one competitor move on to San Diego. Tristan Griffith ran his second straight personal record in the 400 meters clocking 47.82 placing an automatic qualifying fourth place. Griffith's time moves him to fourth all time.
"We had a fine weekend on the track and in the field Saturday," commented head coach Tony Veney. "All the young people put their best foot forward and they have an opportunity take another step toward a state gold medal next week" The first field event Saturday at Mesa begins at 12:00 pm with the first running event starting at 1:45 pm.