The Warrior’s track and field team once again completely dominated in the shot put as the men and women placed, taking first and second in the event at the South Coast Conference Championships at Compton College on Friday.
Leading the men was Jacob Weintraub with his throw of 55-5, with teammate Vinny Iaia following with a throw of 47-6. Weintraub returned later in the discus to place second with a throw of 147-8.
Teammate Max Goldberg placed third with his throw of 138-2.
“We’re cutting the weights down so (Weintraub’s) body can recover faster while helping his speed,” coach Darryl Guerin said.
An hour later, Na’i Leni took first with a throw of 48-10 in the women’s shot put while teammate Salina Ropati placed second with her throw of 42-9.
Ropati’s throw moved her to the seventh spot on the top 10 performer list. Leni returned to place second in the discus with a throw of 141-6.
“I was throwing over fifty feet in the warm-up, but I couldn’t get past forty-eight in the throws that counted,” Leni said. “All of my throws hit the exact same spot every time, which is frustrating because I know for a fact that I can do better.”
Cerritos College came out on top with scores of 247 for the men and 394 for the women out of the 10-team conference. Mt. San Antonio College placed second in the men’s with 181 points and women’s with 119 points with the Warriors third in men’s with 166 points and women’s with 104 points.
“The team as a whole put forth quality performances and represented EC very well at the conference championships,” coach Dean Lofgren said.
The top six in the finals of each event automatically qualified for Saturday’s Southern California Regional Championships, which will be at Mt. SAC. The preliminaries are Saturday, with the finals the following weekend.
These meets provide one last opportunity for the Warriors to hone their particular skill sets in competition before the California State Championships May 15 and 16 in San Mateo.
Jacob Yowell captured first in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at 53.76, following up on a second place performance in the 110-meter high hurdles with a personal best of 14.76.
“It feels great to be first, but I still have room to improve,” Yowell said. “I’m just trying to get better.”
The women’s 1600-meter posted a time of 4:00:1.29 seconds, capturing second place overall. The team consists of Liz Pereyra, KayC Wharton, Shavonya Decuir and Stephanie Bruton.
“We’re trying hard individually to try and get our time under the four-minute mark,” Pereyra said. “I know we’re capable, we just have to work harder.”
Both Pereyra and Wharton qualified in the 400-meter hurdles with Wharton also qualifying in the open 400-meter while Pereyra qualified in the 100-meter hurdles.
Bruton placed fourth in the women’s 800-meter, posting a time of 2:22.70.
A.J. Mitchell won the 800-meter outright as he took the lead right from the start and never looked back.
Mitchell continually increased his lead until the finish, posting a time of 1:52.99.
Mitchell returned later in the day to anchor the second place 1600-meter relay team with his 48.3 split. The team posted a collective 3:18.18.
Michael Munro pole-vaulted 14-6, earning him second place.
Aaron Brown had the lead in the 1500-meter with 200 meters remaining before falling behind to finish third with a time of 4:08.3.
Teammate Jon Flores ran a personal best, while at the same time placing fifth with a time of 4:09.29.
“I could have held on a little longer before I made my move, but I try not to dwell on it because it’s already done,” Brown said.
“I’m more excited about (Flores) running a personal best, and about the fact that he qualified for the So. Cal finals,” Brown said.
Laron Taylor ran a personal best of 49.21 to place third in the 400-meter.
Kevin Avery was solid in both the 200-meter, placing him fourth with 22.26 and in the 100-meter at 10.95.
Ed Spriggs also ran well to place fifth in the 200-meter at 22.36.
Steven Calise recorded another two wins as he finished strong in the men’s 10,000-meter as well as the 5,000-meter.
“I’m just happy to put up some points on the board for the team,” Calise said.
The top six in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter automatically qualify for this Saturday’s finals at Mt. SAC.
Maria Colin ran a personal best in the 5,000-meter at 18:30.18, placing her third. Teammate Courtney Stephens was not far behind at 18:59.20.
“We did a lot of volume earlier in the season,” Lofgren said.
“Now we’re backing off a little and are doing some fine-tuning to get ready for the state championships.”