Enraged after a disappointing third place in the discus, his best event, Jason Harrell stepped up to the stop board.
With adrenaline fueling him, Harrell then launched the shot in the air like a cannon.
He out threw the competition with a mark of 51 feet and 8 1/4 inches.
“I got really upset about taking third in the discus, but I used all my anger that I built up and came out with a win in the shot,” Jason Harrell said. “It was a really intense moment for me.”
His mark moved him up to No. 8 on the ECC All-Time Top 10 List.
“I have a really good chance with the personal record I have and it’ll open new doors for bigger and better things,” Harrell said. “Hopefully I throw better when it comes to Southern California and state.”
Both men’s and women’s track and field teams pushed through the South Coast Conference Championships placing third overall.
They head to Mt. SAC to compete in the Southern California Regional Preliminaries tomorrow.
With a mark of 149 feet and 3 inches, Mayshauna Alexander threw the javelin over 30 feet farther than the next closest competitor who threw 112 feet and 4.42 inches.
“It was a decent day and I didn’t have a good series,” Alexander said. “But I had a season personal record so it was a nice way to start the day off.”
Alexander moved up to third on the ECC All-Time Top 10 List.
“This competition was different because there was more thinking involved,” Alexander said. “In these meets, if you foul you’re done.”
Another big winner was Alex Tuliau with a personal record of 160 feet in the discus.
He rose to fifth on the ECC All-Time Top 10 List.
“The team threw really strong, surprisingly, and they look really good,” Alexander said. “So we can expect some big things at state.”
The sprinters and runners also performed well as they left their opponents in the dust.
“These competitions are a little more serious and you have to run a smarter race,” Cardona said. “You can’t go balls out or breakdown.”
David Cardona broke a 30-year-old school-record in the 1,500-meter, which was previously set by Nick Carr, winning with a time of three minutes and 47.52 seconds.
“I wanted to get the steeplechase record too but I was three seconds off,” Cardona said.
Additionally, he won in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter events.
Likewise, Shale’ Garland broke a 26-year-old 200-meter school record with a time of 23.88 seconds. The record was previously set at 23.94 seconds.
Garland became third on the ECC All-Time Top 10 List and also won in the 400-meter and with the 1,600-meter relay team.
Additionally, Isis Garland, Maria Colin, and Jose Lezama also advanced to represent EC in the regional competitions.
“The more people that go to state the better the environment because you have your friends alongside of you,” Cardona said.
Cardona and Garland will be honored as ECC Athletes-of-the-Year at the Athletic Hall-of-Fame Ceremony today.
Double threat Rukayah-Mikail won the triple jump and the long jump with marks 38-3 and 18-4 ¼.
Kara Kalmar won in the pole vault competition as she beat the other contenders with a vault of 11-6.
“Everyone wants to qualify for finals and move on to the next step,” Cardona said. “So it’s really essential that not only you and your teammates run a good race but as a team we do good.”
