The Mt. San Antonio College Mounties and Cerritos College Falcons dominated almost every track and field event during the South Coast Conference Championships on Saturday, April 26, at Long Beach City College’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Dropping to her knees and crying tears of joy after her race, Leila Champion of the Mounties lived up to her surname by capturing the conference title in the women’s 100-meter dash, recording a personal best of 11.97 seconds in the event.
“My training has been consistent – it’s my mental [strength] that is the most important thing,” Champion said.
Her path to the SCC crowns in the event and in the 200-meter dash was far from straightforward.
Last year, she was faced with challenges that included getting her appendix removed surgically, which affected her core strength and her back, which also sustained a strain, sidelining her for about three months.
Champion attributed her comeback to her faith and physical recovery.
“As long as I believe in Him, everything will be OK,” Champion said. “I would go to massage therapists, chiropractors, just any type of therapy that I could get.”
Champion’s teammate, freshman Kaitlyn Reyes, ranked No. 10 in California, contributed 20 team points by securing a first place finish in the women’s 1,500-meter run, recording a personal best at 4 minutes and 47 seconds.
“I wasn’t really trying to push myself too hard, because I don’t want to let the pressure really start to get to me,” Reyes said.
She was back on the track later in the late afternoon to run in the final of the women’s 5,000-meter run, moving to the outside to slingshot around her teammate Ava Cornell on the turn, with 100 meters to go.
Sweeping the podium in the 12.5 lap event, Cornell, ranked No. 8, was the conference winner in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and added eight points to the team score.
Cornell crossed the finish line second, with Tigist Bergman, the winner from Tuesday night’s final in the 10,000-meter run, trailing 25.09 seconds behind her for a third place finish.
Their coach, Daniel Ozan, said the team culture at Mt. SAC includes mutual support for teammates and collaborative training.
“Everybody’s working together, helping each other out to be able to build for personal success,” Ozan said.
On the men’s side for distance, El Camino College sophomore Aaron Cohen will be heading back to the SoCal Regionals to race in the 10,000-meter run after qualifying on a 32-minute-and-58-second mark at the SCC finals.
His goal was to maintain fitness levels while reducing physical and mental stress, which he attributed to a successful performance.
“I just lowered the intensity, but just kept running, kept the miles going and from there, I just think I felt better,” Cohen said.
In 20 events, the Mounties scored 392 points on the men’s side, while the women had 305.
Trailing just behind them were the Falcons, who scored 224 on the men’s side, while the women had 238.5.
The team’s No. 10 4×100-meter relay quartet featured Xavier Williams, Konnor Handy, Te’quan Chatman and Ethan Rosborough, sprinting to victory in 41.94 seconds.
“I knew that coming in [to the race], I had a lot of events—the 100 [meter dash], 200 [meter dash], 4×100 [relay]—and I had to be there for my team, so recovery was very important,” Chatman said.
Their teammate, sophomore hurdler Kailah Usi added 10 points by setting a personal best in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 15.59 seconds.
She attributed her performance to taking care of her body by cutting junk food from her diet and working on her technique.
“I wasn’t snacking as much,” Usi said. “Driving into the hurdle harder, since I’m a shorter hurdler and not standing up and pulling my momentum back.”
The Mounties and the Falcons advance to the California Community College Athletic Association Southern California Championships in the postseason.
For the Warriors, the team wraps up the regular season, while others, including Cohen, Gunner Perez in the men’s decathlon and Tilliana Wakefield-Carl, who took home the conference crown in the women’s pole vault, look to extend their season.
Cohen, Perez and Wakefield-Carl will compete this coming Saturday, May 3 at Saddleback College for the 3C2A SoCal Championships.
