Consistency.
It’s one word that’s valued as the ultimate complement in track and field, regardless of the event. Ask coach Dean Lofgren.
He will tell you that it’s a quality shared among all great athletes.
Sophmores Jacob Weintraub and Na’I Leni have demonstrated such consistency this season by winning their shot put events at the Cerritos invitational March 6, following their wins at the USC Invitational.
Weintraub threw a distance of 53 _ feet in the men’s shot put, increasing his personal best for the season by one inch. He also placed second in the discus throw with a distance of 146-7 feet, marking a lifetime personal best. Leni was a double winner, throwing 49 1/2 in the women’s shot put and 144 1/2 in the women’s discus.
“I’m proud of myself for throwing the way I did at Cerritos” Weintraub said. “An athlete needs consistency in order to say he’s done something”.
Weintraub, Leni and the rest of the Warriors placed second overall in scoring in a competitive match-up with top-ranked Cerritos, Saddleback and Palomar colleges.
Due to personal matters, Leni will not compete in the upcoming meet at Moorpark on Saturday. The Warriors will compete in a non-conference, four-way scoring meet against Cerritos, West L.A. and Moorpark colleges.
Although Leni’s absence will surely be missed, freshman Salina Ropatia, Banning High School, is eager to prove her worth within the Warrior throwers. Ropatia’s throw of 40-6 at the Cerritos Invitational, placing her ninth on the Warrior All-Time Performer List in that event.
“(Ropatia) is learning all the basics very quickly, weight training, and she is throwing more often,” throwing coach Darryl Guerin said. “She can only go up from here.”
For the runners, freshman Kayc Wharton, South Torrance High School, won the 400-meter hurdles in a state-leading 64:88, placing her ninth on the EC All-Time Performer List in that event.
“We’ve been working really hard lately at practice,” Wharton said. “I’m looking forward to the Moorpark meet because I’ll be running the open four-hundred, and I haven’t ran that this season.”
Wharton also placed second in the 100-meter hurdles at 16:68, while leading the women’s 1600-meter relay to win at 4:02.56.
“(Wharton) did something that she has not done before, which was three-step the entire race”, said runners coach Kevin Hughley. “Three-stepping is only taking three steps between each hurdle. It was very encouraging to see her do that.”
Wharton also had to deal with an unusual problem in the 400-meter hurdles. The second hurdle in the event was accidentally set at the men’s intermediate height rather than the women’s height, but Wharton was still able to clear the hurdle and clock the state-leading time.
“I never had anything like that happen before,” Wharton said. “It was there and I didn’t really have a choice, so I just did it.”
Hughley was astonished by how Wharton “negotiated” the abnormal hurdle.
“(Wharton) was extremely dominant in the four-hundred hurdles, and her being able to negotiate the men’s hurdle while still putting up the state-leading time is impressive.” Hughley said.
Sophomore Steven Calise was a double winner in strategic races, running the 1500-meter event at a time of 4:05.82 and 3,000-meter event at a time of 9:10.19.
“I focused on getting the win rather than making a good time, and it worked out.” Calise said.
Calise and Maria Colin will compete in the 10,000-meter at the Occidental Distance Invitational on tomorrow instead of competing at the Moorpark Invitational Saturday.
“I’m just going to go out there and have fun (at Occidental). I know it’s also going to help me with conditioning I’ll need later in the season” Calise said.
Sophomore Courtney Stephens won the 3,000-meter with time of 10:46.45, with teammates Colin placing 3rd with a 10:50.25 and Naomi Altamirano placing 5th with a 10:50.57.
Sophomore Jacob Yowell won the intermediate 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54:76 and placed second in the 110 High Hurdles at 15:46 while helping lead the 1600-meter relay team to a 3:18.89 victory.
Freshman Laron Taylor, Washington Prep High School, won the 400-meter in a solid 49:65 and placed third in the 200-meter at 22:51. Taylor was also a member of the winning 1600-meter relay team.
Freshman Anthony Mitchell, Bakersfield North High School, ran a 1:54.39 in the 800-meter, placing second to 1:52 800-meter runner Torion Bailey of Cerritos. Mitchell was also a member of the winning 1600-meter relay team.
Sophomore Jamar Hutchison and freshman Eddie Hughes, Lynwood High School, led a 1-2 finish in the Long Jump, with Hutchison jumping a distance of 22-3 feet to Hughes’ 21-9 feet.
“Even though I jumped well, I still felt like I could have performed better,” Hutchison said.
“I don’t hate Cerritos, but I definitely feel like I have an extra reason to try hard when we compete against them,” Hitchinson said. “I look forward to facing them again in the Moorpark meet.”
