Sophomore Na’I Leni went into Saturday’s Southern California Track and Field Championships at Mt. San Antonio College with one goal in mind: to take the Southern California shot put record and make it all her own.
“I knew I had to do something,” Leni said.
Leni missed the shot put record by five inches, throwing 48-8 « feet, but was able to leave her competition in the dust, as her runner-up was 4 « behind her. Leni would place second in the discus with a throw of 140-3, which was 10 inches behind the winner of that event.
Sophomore Jacob Weintraub placed second in the shot put with a throw of 55-6 «, which was 1 « behind Moorpark’s Dennis Aliotta.
“It is no secret that Jacob will be throwing for the title this weekend,” coach Dean Lofgren said. “It is kind of nice. In the discus he is kind of a ‘dark horse’ and in the shot put he is the favorite.”
Weintraub placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 151-5.
Going into this weekend’s California Community College State Championships at the College of San Mateo, Lofgren said he believes everyone should be more than ready for the competitions.
“It is a matter of not overtraining, but we want to make sure everyone is mentally prepared,” Lofgren said. “We are going to do some light workouts when we get up there, but they need to make sure to get enough rest and eat well, but also know that they need to contain the level of excitement.”
Freshman A.J. Mitchell earned a spot at the state championships, placing second in the 800-meter with a time of 1:52.66. Mitchell got out to a fast start, but struggled to contain his lead down the stretch.
“He got excited a little early on,” Lofgren said. “He is the favorite in that event, even though he struggled.”
Sophomore Steven Calise qualified in the 5,000-meter, earning fourth place with a time of 15:10.78, which was his best time of the season.
“We wanted everyone to ‘safely’ qualify, and he did,” Lofgren said. “We know he will do well at state, but not how well.”
Overall, the men placed sixth, just behid South Coast Conference rivals Mt. SAC (third) and Cerritos (fourth) while the women placed ninth, just behind Mt. SAC’s seventh place finish
Sophomore Jacob Yowell qualified in two events, the 110 high hurdles with a fourth-place finish and the 400 intermediate hurdles with a fifth-place finish.
Yowell was also part of the men’s 1600-meter relay team that failed to qualify for state after being knocked off the track by a member of Cerritos College’s relay team in the third leg of the race.
“We never got a chance to see what they could do as a whole,” Lofgren said. “They did not finish fast enough to qualify. They possibly could have won the state event.”
The women’s 1600-meter relay team placed fourth with a time of 3:54.10, a season high. The team consists of Liz Pereyra, Stephanie Bruton, Shavonya Decuir and Kayc Wharton.
“They are looking very good going into the weekend,” Lofgren said.
Freshman Maria Colin placed sixth with a time of 38:45.07, placing her third on the top-10 performer’s list in the 10,000-meter. Lofgren said he hopes Colin will be able to compete after finding out she has been sick all week.
“We hope she can get through it,” Lofgren said. “She is tough. I know she will do fine.”
Looking ahead to the weekend, Weintraub said he hopes to use this week as a chance to build a last bit of confidence.
“Being in that type of realm can put you under a lot of pressure,” Weintraub said. “You try to stay calm and keep your composure. For me, I want to throw with a high intensity, but I will leave it all out on the field.”
Lofgren said he remains optimistic about the weekend’s competition.
“It has been a good season,” Lofgren said. “Things happen in state meets. We hope it happens well for us.”
