W. Track & Field: Falcons take top two spots in jumping events

Justice Smith wins triple jump
Justice Smith wins triple jump

With wins in three of the field events, the Cerritos College women's track and field team excelled at the Cerritos Open on Saturday. The Falcons, who won four events and finished in second place six times, will now compete in the Beach Open at Cal State Long Beach next weekend. They will also serve as an event host for the Cal State Los Angeles Invitational on Friday.

Justice Smith (Highland HS), who won the triple jump with a distance of 39' 1/4" (11.89 meters), placed her name fifth on the college's all-time top five marks. She edged out teammate Imani Jones (Mater Dei HS), who took place at 38' 4 1/4" (11.69 meters), while Jones also finished second in the long jump. Her best leap of 16' 11 1/2" (5.17 meters) was almost two feet shy of eventual champion Kierra King (Long Beach Wilson HS), who won the event at 18' 3" (5.56 meters). King also came in second place in the 200 meters with a time of 24.68, and was only beat by a member of the Chinese National Team.

King also ran the first leg of the 4x100-meter relay team that turned in a first place time of 46.90 and pulled away from a quartet of teammates. After King, the relay team consisted of Mahlaya Salter (Diamond Ranch HS), Kenyla Miles (Carson HS) and Alia Scott (Vista HS). In second place, the relay team of Precious Alugbue (King Drew HS), Shyanne Carrigan (Fullerton HS), Alona Davis (Bellflower HS) and Daila Bey (Carson HS), posted a second place time of 49.12.  Miles also finished fourth in the 200 meters at 24.87, while Salter (1:00.30), Alugbue (1:00.82) and Carrigan (1:01.03) finished second through fourth in the 400 meters.

The 800 meters saw Laurel Shepherd (Irvine HS) post a third place time of 2:23.49), with the Falcons recording the second through fourth best time in the 100-meter HH. After both Bell (15.12) and Scott (15.82) took second and third places, respectively, Darlena Robinson (Schurr HS) finished fourth with a time of 16.16.

Thrower Nanati Alailefaleula (Long Beach Millikan HS) picked up a first place finish in the shot put with a distance of 12.21 meters, while her throw of 32.21 meters in the discus earned her a third place finish.  She also added a fourth place in the hammer with a distance of 37.20 meters.

Photos by Daryl Peterson