As the favorite heading into the California Community College Track and Field Championships, sophomore Na’I Leni became the state champion by dominating her opponents and captured the title on her first throw in the shot put event.
Leni won her second consecutive state championship in the shotput competition Saturday at the College of San Mateo.
Leni’s first throw was an impressive 50-7 to win the competition. Leni also placed third in the discus competition with 139-8.
“I am very excited to win the state championship again,” Leni said. “Although I knew I was the favorite coming in, it is always hard for me to get up for these competitions because I always out throw the second place person by five or seven feet.”
There was another goal for Leni besides the state championship that might have motivated her.
“Even though I won state again, I cried both tears of joy and tears of disappointment,” Leni said. “I wanted my No. 1 spot back in national and when I found out some girl in Texas had it, I wanted to get it back, because I didn’t want to leave EC being No. 2 nationally. Too bad I came up short.”
Leni was about three feet short of the national record held by Kelly Closse.
Even though she didn’t reclaim her No. 1 spot, Leni is thrilled with her two years as a Warrior.
“I wanted to throw a fifty-four even,” Leni said. “It’s all good though, because I have had a great run here and I am going to miss everyone from the coaches down to my teammates.”
Leni is leaving with an impressive resume that includes two state and South Coast Conference Championships along with being named back-to-back athlete of the year by the EC athletic department and also conference athlete of the year.
“I give all the credit to coach Darryl (Guerin) and Dean (Lofgren),” Leni said. “They really made sure I was always motivated, to always try my best with each throw and to make sure I always succeeded.”
Sophomore Jacob Weintraub placed second in the shot put competition with a mark of 57-2 which places him second in college history.
“That mark that he had on the shot was amazing,” coach Dean Lofgren said. “That’s a two-foot improvement from what he had last time.”
The competitor from Moorpark took first place with a throw of 60-7.
In the 800-meter, freshman A.J. Mitchell finished in second place with a time of 1:53.75.
“To have a freshman finish second in state is remarkable, it gives him a lot of confidence heading into next year. He has a great work ethic and it paid off in that race. He actually held the top spot for awhile there until the last meter,” Lofgren said.
In the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, sophomore Jacob Yowell had a strong home-stretch run and placed third with a personal best 52.99.
“I actually thought he was going to finish sixth,” assistant coach Sean Sheil said. “We realized that he was gaining momentum, and he dug deep for that strong finish. It was so awesome to watch.”
In the 10,000-meter, Maria Colin finished sixth overall while battling respiratory flu for a week. Lofgren said he appreciated her effort.
“She was really sick, and I didn’t know how she was going to do,” Lofgren said. “She gave her all and sixth place is pretty solid in my opinion, considering how ill she was.”
The women’s 1,600-meter relay team finished in sixth place as well with a time of 3:55:39.
The team of Liz Pereyra, Stephanie Bruton, Shavonya Decuir and Kayc Wharton were also battling illnesses.
“That team was going through a lot of physical turmoil,” Lofgren said. “I’m satisfied with their finish considering the condition they were in.”
Overall, Lofgren said he was satisfied with his team’s effort. He also said he was very pleased with the amount of people he had competing in the state championship.
“I thought we had a very successful meet with Na’I and Jacob and we also had people who were sick that still competed,” Lofgren said.
“I thought everyone stepped up in the big race and to qualify for a state championship is already as hard as it is. The way we finished speaks highly of our program,” Lofgren said.
