It was a cold and very windy day at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster as the Pirate track and field teams competed in the Western State Conference Preliminaries on Friday. In total, 19 athletes qualified to compete in next week's conference finals at Bakersfield. Meanwhile, there were five events of finals competition, with VC well-represented in the place-winners.
In the jump finals, Charlotte Allison (Le Reina) claimed the first individual conference championship of the year with a victory in the high jump. She then went on to take a bronze in the long jump. Meanwhile, Jaedon Rogers (Rio Mesa) was second overall in the long jump. They will both compete in the triple jump final next Friday.
In the throw finals, Michelle Sanchez (Oxnard) was fourth in the discus, and sixth in the javelin. Denise Cardona (Pacifica) was 10th in the discus. Christian Cook (Rio Mesa) and Yoy Vasquez (Pacifica) were 15th and 20th, respectively, in the discus. The four will all compete in the shotput finals in Bakersfield.
The lone track final of the day was the 10,ooom run in which Michael Sanchez (Foothill Tech) ran to a fourth-place finish overall in the WSC. He will compete in the 5k final on Friday.
Aubrianna Smith (Foothill Tech) and Ariana Vera (Rio Mesa) had the third and fourth fastest times in the 200m preliminaries to qualify for the finals. Smith will also compete in the 100m at the finals while both will be in the 4x100m relay final with teammates Allison and Gillian Serate. Cristina Cortes (Oxnard) was a qualifier in the 800m
Pierson Reynolds (Buena) and Noah Castro (Channel Islands) were the third and seventh fastest qualifiers in the 800m, advancing to next week's final, and they will join teammates Gabriel Olivares and Angel Gomez in the 4x400m relay final. Sahit Jimenez (Santa Paula) was a qualifier in the 1500m.
Tristan Brown (Hueneme) is the loan qualifier in the men's sprints, clocking the eighth-fastest 100m time, advancing him to next week's final.
Overall, 19 Pirates are qualified to compete in next week's WSC Finals at Bakersfield.
"Our modified season culminates next Friday, and we're very confident that our athletes are prepared mentally and physically," said head coach Tom Czerwinski. "We hope to end on a high note, and to continue with some momentum into the bright future of this program."