Competing against University level athletes, the men’s and women’s track and field team showed that they can keep up while at the USC Trojan Invitational last Saturday.

The team will compete next at the Bakersfield Invitational Saturday.

Freshman Na’i Leni continued her outstanding performance by sending the shot put 44 feet and 2 _ inches.

Her distance was the best at the invitational, and propelled her into the record books at EC.

She is now 3rd on the college’s top-10 list and is creeping her way up among state leaders.

“I am trying to set a new school record during my first year,” Leni said.

Jacob Weintraub is another freshman who performed well for the Warriors.

Weintraub placed 3rd in the shot put, and improved his personal best to 59 feet and 9 « inches.

He solidified his role in the EC record books by throwing the 7th best all time measurement.

“I’m learning how to torque my hips to get the ball through,” Weintraub said. “I’m going to try to use that to my advantage at the next meet in Bakersfield.”

Not far behind Weintraub was Eric Oliva, who threw a distance of 46-6 _ to place 6th overall in the event.

In the 800-meter relay event, the men’s team took a 2nd place finish, and Steve Calise once again showed why he is considered one of the best runners in southern California in the 800-meter with a time of 1:59.4.

“He is our top distance guy”, said coach Dean Lofgren of Calise.

The men’s relay team also placed 2nd in the 200-meter relay in 1:29.02.

The women also had strong performances in their relays, placing 3rd in the distance event and the sprint event.

“The team this year is really strong,” said Charles Hutchinson, who specializes in the decathalon.

By improving on his personal best, Freshman Garrett Till’s Long Jump at 21-10 ¬ got him 3rd in the event.

Considering the high level of the competition, Lofgren said he believes the team performed very well and was able to hold its own on the field.

“We were spread all over the place,” said Lofgren in reference to the number of events the team excelled in.

Confidence among team members is strong however, support from fellow team members plays an important role in the athlete’s performances.

“I get butterflies really bad,” Leni said. “If I have some people there that are cheering me on, I feel a lot better.”

“I try to encourage my teammates and they help me out through the hard times,” Weintraub said. “I try to be a role model.