Track and field fell short of expectations last Saturday at the Cerritos Track Invitational as they were outmatched and struggled to take home gold medals.

The track team has been on a roll as of late but this latest performance showed that there is much work to do be done if the Warriors expect to take state. EC outran Cerritos the last time they met in the season opener earlier this year in February but failed to do it again.

Both men’s and women’s 4X100 meter teams failed to secure good handoffs that caused the team to fall short of the gold in both categories. The men placed fourth and the women took third.

“We were alright but we had really bad handoffs,” said Freshmen Kimberly Markley.

Markley’s performance was still impressive as she managed to take the bronze in long jump and 200 meter dash as well as fourth in triple jump. Even though the team didn’t do well Markley believes a bounce back for the team is near.

“I think we are headed to state still,” Markley said.

Despite failing to place top three in many events, the Warriors still brought home some medals. Both men’s and women’s distance medley relay teams took gold. The women’s 4×200 team took the gold while their counterpart took silver.

In the 4×400 dash roles were reversed as the men’s team won the gold while the women’s team took silver. Sophomore Khalil Flemister was disappointed with the team’s overall effort in the 4×100 and didn’t want to make the same mistake in the 4×400.

“It was disappointing when we ran the 4×100, everyone was rusty and just had an off day,” Flemister said.

He continued to explain that the team overall didn’t perform to their potential and he is confident his team will rally at this week’s invitational on Saturday hosted by the Cal State L.A. Flemister also took silver in triple jump right behind sophomore William Ingram who took gold.

Ingram took gold in the high jump while sophomore Chris Rasmussen placed third for the bronze. Freshmen Chris Park looked in mid-season form as he took home gold in men’s long jump.

Sophomore Blaize Ali-Watkins earned bronze in both the long jump and the 400 dash. Sophomore Chris Graham captured the bronze in the 110 hurdles.

Sophomore Alex Guzman won his first gold of the season in the 3000 steeplechase.

“Feels great getting that first gold and it motivates me to become faster,” Guzman said.

Freshmen Sara Curren continues to amaze as she locked in her third gold medal for women’s pole vault making her a perfect three for three this season. Curren hit her personal record but she knows there is always room for improvement.

“The wind was a major factor today but I got to my PR and I need to work on my turns,” Curren said.