Trio of former Falcons compete in Olympic Trials

Daniel Stokes will compete in the 4x400-meter relays at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
Daniel Stokes will compete in the 4x400-meter relays at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo

At the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials, a pair of former Cerritos College women's track and field athletes competed, while a former member of the men's team qualified to compete for the Mexican National Team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. After winning a CCCAA State Championship in the 400 meters in 2019 for the Falcons, Daniel Stokes transferred to North Carolina A&T University, where he won a pair of NCAA National Championships. On the women's side, state discus champion in 2008, Whitney Ashley, as well as five-time state champion Juanita Webster-Freeman, competed in the Olympic Trials.

Whitney Ashley at the US Olympic Trials Ashley (pictured, left), who was an Olympian in 2016, did not qualify this time, as she placed fifth in the Olympic Trials. She sat in seventh place after her first three throws, and despite being one of three Americans to have met the Olympic standard this season, Whitney will not represent the U.S. at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Ashley's best throw of 193-11 (59.10m) was 1.11 meters short of the third-place mark and only three move on.

While with the Falcons in 2008-09, Ashley was a two-time South Coast Conference champion in the discus, while also winning the Southern California and state championship. She went on to San Diego State University, where she was a National Champion and two-time All-American. Ashley was also a four-time member of Team USA.

In the heptathlon, Webster-Freeman, who's a member of the Santa Barbara Track Club, finished eighth in the heptathlon and turned in a pair of personal best marks along the way. She cleared 1.84 meters in the high jump, which was the fourth best of all entries, while she closed out the competition with a time of 2:13.39 in the 800 meters. Hoping to improve on her personal best point total of 6006, Webster-Freemen finished with 5887 points.

Juanita Webster with the Falcons Daniel Stokes with the Falcons As a member of the Falcons, Webster-Freeman (pictured, right) won four of her five state championships as a sophomore in 2017. She was a two-time state champion in the heptathlon, while also capturing the title in the 110-meter HH, long jump and triple jump. Webster-Freeman still holds the school record in each of the events.

This season at North Carolina A&T University, Stokes ran the first leg of the 4x400-meter relay, which resulted in an NCAA National Championship with a time of 3:00.92, while earlier in the season, they set the world mark at 2:59.21. During the indoor season, Stokes was part of the quarter that won the NCAA National Championship in the 4x400-meter relays. He will now run the opening leg for the Mexican National Team in the 4x400-meter relays at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

During the 2019 season with the Falcons, Stokes (pictured, above) won the championship in the 400 meters with a time of 46.60, recorded a second place time of 21.39 in the 200 meters, and ran the first leg of the 4x100-meter relay team that took second place.