W. Track & Field: Cerritos excels in final invitational

Women's track and field posted some of their best marks of the season at the Cerritos Invitational
Women's track and field posted some of their best marks of the season at the Cerritos Invitational

In their last chance to tune up for the South Coast Conference Prelims, the Cerritos College women's track and field turned in several fine performances at the Cerritos Invitational. The Falcons will now compete in the SCC Prelims, which will take place on April 23 at El Camino College.

As a team, Cerritos won a pair of events and took second place in seven others. Both relay teams came in second place, with the 4x100-meter relay team of KeeAnna McCaulley (North Fort Meyers, FL HS), Elena Mack (El Camino Real Charter HS), Crystal Nguyen (Fountain Valley HS) and Jasmine Soto-Castro (Schurr HS) turning in a time of 49.74. They were only edged out by four-year college Hunboldt State. As for the 4x400-meter relay, the quartet of Ariel Alvarez (Firebaugh HS), Lila Palmer (Long Beach Poly HS), Kimberly Ibarra (Warren HS) and Leslie Juarez (Warren HS) were timed in 4:22.55 and trailed only College of the Canyons.

In the sprinting events, Mack posted a season-best time of 25.07 to place second in the 200 meters and trailed only former Falcon Kierra King, who had a time of 24.81. Mack matched that finish in the 400 meters, with her personal best time of 58.34 trailing only Orange Coast College's Esmeray Demirbas, who won the event in 57.02.

Also registering a personal best time on the year was sophomore Megan Feitz (Fountain Valley HS), who posted a time of 12:09.23 in the 3000 meter steeplechase and trailed only Yonselin Canseco of San Bernardino Valley College by eight seconds. 

In the field events, sophomore Zharia Taylor (Long Beach Poly HS) won the high jump when she cleared 1.55 meters on her first attempt. She also finished in second place in the triple jump with a personal best distance of 10.74 meters, which came on her second of four attempts. Sophomore thrower Dimitra Vitogiannis (Downey HS) defeated 35 other entries in the discus and turned in a personal best distance of 44.18 meters, which she accomplished on her first throw. There were 11 entries in the competition that came from four-year schools. Sophomore javelin thrower Andrea Villalta (Norwalk HS) turned in a second place distance of 36.27 meters and trailed only Mariah Humphrey of New Mexico State University.

Below is a list of all the Cerritos College athletes that competed in the Cerritos Invitational.

NAME EVENT TIME/DISTANCE PLACE
Alona Davis 100 Meters 11.97 7th Place
Jasmine Soto-Castro 100 Meters 12.95 26th Place
KeeAnna McCaulley 100 Meters 13.05 30th Place
Andrea Alvarado 100 Meters 13.72 38th Place
Elena Mack 200 Meters 25.07 2nd Place
Jasmine Soto-Castro 200 Meters 26.70 18th Place
Crystal Nguyen 200 Meters 26.73 19th Place
KeeAnna McCaulley 200 Meters 27.82 23rd Place
Elena Mack 400 Meters 58.34 2nd Place
Crystal Nguyen 400 Meters 1:03.71 11th Place
Ariel Alvarez 400 Meters 1:0439 13th Place
Lila Palmer 800 Meters 2:30.26 9th Place
Leslie Juarez 800 Meters 2:32.69 16th Place
Kimberly Ibarra 800 Meters 2:32.99 17th Place
Leslie Juarez 1500 Meters 5:24.14 10th Place
Claudia Rios 1500 Meters 5:48.54 20th Place
Evelyn Mejia 5000 Meters 20:19.70 7th Place
Zharia Taylor 100-Meter HH 15.28 Tied 8th Place
Kailah Utsi 100-Meter HH 15.79 10th Place
Alyssa Zabala 100-Meter HH 16.58 12th Place
Amaya Nolan-Gieskes 100-Meter HH 18.07 19th Place
Kailah Utsi 400-Meter IH 1:11.14 9th Place
Megan Feitz 3000 Meter SC 12:09.23 2nd Place
Delilah Chavez 3000 Meter SC 12:31.85 6th Place
Diana Raya Perez 3000 Meter SC 12:51.60 7th Place
KeeAnna McCaulley, Elena Mack, Crystal Nguyen, Jasmine Soto-Castro 4x100-Meter Relay 49.74 2nd Place
Ariel Alvarez, Lila Palmer, Kimberly Ibarra, Leslie Juarez 4x400-Meter Relay 4:22.55 2nd Place
Zharia Taylor High Jump 1.55 Meters 1st Place
Amaya Nolan-Gieskes Long Jump 4.41 Meters 8th Place
Andrea Alvarado Long Jump 4.34 Meters 9th Place
KeeAnna McCaulley Long Jump 4.23 Meters 11th Place
Zharia Taylor Triple Jump 10.74 Meters 2nd Place
Dimitra Vitogiannis Shot Put 11.03 Meters 9th Place
Natalie Bailey Shot Put 9.90 Meters 12th Place
Dimitra Vitogiannis Discus 44.18 Meters 1st Place
Emily Ortiz Discus 38.28 Meters 8th Place
Dimitra Vitogiannis Hammer 43.28 Meters 9th Place
Milika Burdett Hammer 43.10 Meters 10th Place
Natalie Bailey Hammer 41.10 Meters 15th Place
Jessica McLennan Hammer 39.96 Meters 18th Place
Andrea Villalta Javelin 36.27 Meters 2nd Place
Amaya Nolan-Gieskes Javelin 21.34 Meters 23rd Place