A well-rounded team performance at Saddleback College qualifies the Warriors for competition in every event except the 200-meters relay at the state finals tomorrow and Saturday.
The next and final stop for the Warriors will be at American River College at Sacramento for the state finals, where an abundance of athletes will be competing tomorrow and Saturday.
“We have to do the very best that we can, because it is the last meet of the season,” Shammeer Dawson said. “We have been training all this season for this specific meet, so we cannot hold anything back.”
Along with Dawson, Lindsey Brown will also be competing in the 1,600-meters relay, as well as the 800-meter.
Despite having only one first place finish during the Southern California Finals, the EC team managed to qualify all eight of its athletes for the state finals.
In the field events, Star Thurman will compete in the triple jump, where she is considered the favorite, as well as in the long jump.
Thurman will also be competing in the 400-meter relay, while Stephanie Robbins and Angela Morales will both compete in the shot put finals tomorrow and Saturday.
Last Saturday, the Warriors went to Saddleback College for the Southern California Finals, where the team finished in fifth place with 52.5 points.
The women finished behind Cerritos College, who finished in first place with 130.5 points; Mt .San Antonio College was second with 95.3; Long Beach finished in third place with 81.5, while Orange Coast finished fourth with 63 points.
“As a team, we were hoping for a fourth-place overall team standing, but fifth place is very solid,” Lofgren said. “Not considering that we were in a competition against fifty-two colleges.”
Dawson finished in third place overall in the women’s 100-meters. Dawson, who also competed in the 400-meter relay with Thurman, Gabrielle Meniefield and Danyelle Meniefield, finished in fourth place with a time of 48.38.
Brown finished in second place in the 800-meters with a time of 2:17.34.
Brown also competed in the 1,600-meters relay with Dawson, Gabrielle Meniefield and Danyelle Meniefield and finished in fourth place with a time of 3:56.15.
“I’m glad that all the hard work has paid off; we qualified for both relays and it feels good,” Dawson said. “We have worked too hard for this.”
Thurman also finished in first place in the triple jump with a leap of 38-1. Thurman also competed in the long jump and finished third with a 18-0 jump.
Thurman’s jump of 38-1 in the triple jump gave her a new personal best record, which she had previously set at 37.11 during the Southern California Preliminaries at Saddleback College.
Thurman’s 38-1 jump was also good enough to place it as the eighth all-time best in EC history.
“I am so excited for myself and I know that all the hard work has paid off,” Thurman said. “Being the top jumper in the triple jump in Southern California is very satisfying.”
Despite all the satisfaction that has been brought on by the large amount of success this year, Thurman remains focused on what lies ahead for both her and the team.
“I know I still have one more meet which is going to be very tough, so I have to be at my very best,” Thurman said.
Stephanie Robbins competed in the shot put and finished in fifth with a throw of 40-1/4 and will compete alongside Morales.
Morales also had a strong performance, and finished sixth in the shot put with a throw of 39-11.
“The women did very well in their competition; most of them did their very best,” Lofgren said. ” Angela, Shammeer, Star and Lindsey all had personal bests on Saturday.”
Dawson will be competing in the 100-meters as well as the 400-meters.
She will also be part of the team which will be competing in the 1,600-meters relays at the state finals.
“Angela has come a long way since the season has started,” Lofgren said. “She (Angela) has been progressing week by week, so she should do fairly well at state.”
