W. Track & Field: Several outstanding performances lead Falcons

(L-R) Crystal Nguyen and Megan Feitz helped the Falcons put in a good showing at Occidental
(L-R) Crystal Nguyen and Megan Feitz helped the Falcons put in a good showing at Occidental

Competing in the Occidental Invitational/Distance Carnival on Saturday, the Cerritos College women's track and field team won three events and had several A-Standard marks. Showing more and more improvement as the season progresses, the Falcons will split their squad next weekend and participate in the Hornet Invitational at Sacramento State University and Cal State Los Angeles Invitational.

Both relay teams did well, with the 4x400-meter team coming in first place with a time of 4:02.49. They consisted of Elena Mack (El Camino Real Charter HS), Zharia Taylor (Long Beach Poly HS/University of Southern Mississippi), Crystal Nguyen (Fountain Valley HS) and Jasmine Soto-Castro (Schurr HS) and finished more than two seconds ahead of second place Cal State Los Angeles. Checking in with a second place time of 48.67, the 4x100-meter relay team trailed only Pepperdine University. That foursome included Nguyen, Alona Davis (Bellflower HS), Mack and Soto-Castro. Both groups recorded A-Standard times.

The throws group also won a pair of events, with sophomore discus thrower Dimitra Vitogiannis (Downey HS) easily defeating the competition with her toss of 41.64 meters (136' 7"), which was a personal-best and an A-Standard mark. Emily Ortiz (Tustin HS) finished in fourth place with a distance of 35.26 meters (115' 8"). In the javelin, sophomore Andrea Villalta (Norwalk HS) also posted a personal-best distance, as she won the event with a throw of 38.33 meters (125' 9"), which was also an A-Standard mark.

In other throwing competitions, the duo of sophomores Milika Burdett (Cypress HS) and Dimitra Vitogiannis (Downey HS) finished in second place (41.54 meters) and third place (41.37 meters), respectively, with Vitogiannis recording a third place throw of 11.25 meters (36' 11") in the shot put. Sophomore Jessica McLennan (Warren HS) posted a fourth place distance of 10.78 meters.

Taylor also finished in second place in the long jump at 5.30 meters, which she posted on her first attempt, while Andrea Alvarado (Paramount HS) went 10.53 meters to finish second in the triple jump. That distance came on her final jump.

In running events, Davis recorded the second fastest time in the 100 meters at 12.23, with Megan Feitz (Fountain Valley HS) finishing in ninth place in the 3000-meter steeplechase in a time of 12:12.80.

NAME EVENT TIME/DISTANCE PLACE
Alona Davis 100 Meters 12.23 2nd Place
Elena Mack 100 Meters 12.81 9th Place
Crystal Nguyen 100 Meters 13.10 17th Place
Jasmine Soto-Castro 100 Meters 13.21 22nd Place
Kailah Utsi 100 Meters 13.98 33rd Place
Lila Palmer 800 Meters 2:34.49 33rd Place
Ariel Alvarez 800 Meters 2:35.32 35th Place
Kimberly Ibarra 800 Meters 2:36.70 36th Place
Leslie Juarez 1500 Meters 5:27.73 56th Place
Evelyn Mejia 1500 Meters 5:28.92 58th Place
Zharia Taylor 100-Meter HH 15.68 2nd Place
Alyssa Zabala 100-Meter HH 16.87 8th Place
Kailah Utsi 100-Meter HH 17.78 12th Place
Amaya Nolan-Gieskes 100-Meter HH 18.75 15th Place
Megan Feitz 3000-Meter SC 12:12.80 9th Place
Delilah Chavez 3000-Meter SC 13:05.82 20th Place
Crystal Nguyen, Alona Davis, Elena Mack, Jasmine Soto-Castro 4x100-Meter Relay 48.67 2nd Place
Elena Mack, Zharia Taylor, Crystal Nguyen, Jasmine Soto-Castro 4x400-Meter Relay 4:02.49 1st Place
Zharia Taylor Long Jump 5.30 Meters 2nd Place
Alyssa Zabala Long Jump 4.64 Meters 15th Place
Andrea Alvarado Long Jump 4.48 Meters 17th Place
Andrea Alvarado Triple Jump 10.53 Meters 2nd Place
Dimitra Vitogiannis Shot Put 11.25 Meters 3rd Place
Jessica McLennan Shot Put 10.78 Meters 4th Place
Milika Burdett Shot Put 10.51 Meters 5th Place
Natalie Bailey Shot Put 9.82 Meters 10th Place
Emily Ortiz Shot Put 9.72 Meters 11th Place
Zharia Taylor Shot Put 9.51 Meters 14th Place
Dimitra Vitogiannis Discus 41.64 Meters 1st Place
Emily Ortiz Discus 35.26 Meters 4th Place
Natalie Bailey Discus 31.96 Meters 9th Place
Jessica McLennan Discus 31.30 Meters 11th Place
Andrea Villalta Discus 27.22 Meters 16th Place
Milika Burdett Hammer 41.54 Meters 2nd Place
Dimitra Vitogiannis Hammer 41.37 Meters 3rd Place
Emily Ortiz Hammer 40.25 Meters 5th Place
Natalie Bailey Hammer 35.27 Meters 11th Place
Jessica McLennan Hammer 34.86 Meters 12th Place
Andrea Villalta Javelin 38.33 Meters 1st Place
Alyssa Zabala Javelin 20.36 Meters 12th Place