W. Track & Field: Cerritos wins State Championship

The women's track and field team won their fifth state title in school history and third in the last six seasons
The women's track and field team won their fifth state title in school history and third in the last six seasons

For the fifth time in school history, and fourth time in the last eight seasons, the Cerritos College women's track and field team won the California Community College Athletic Association state championship. The Falcons, who also won state titles in 2009, 2008, 2006 and 1981, compiled 91 team points and held off second place Laney College, who finished with 81 points.

Leading the way for Cerritos was freshman Alexus Dalton (Long Beach Poly HS), who won two state championships, placed second in another and added a fourth place finish. Dalton set a new school record in the heptathlon by posting 5129, which broke the record she set at the Southern California Championships of 5111 points. Sophomore Angel Sifuentes (Central Union HS) finished third at the state championships with 4546 points, which places her second on the school's all-time list. Sifuentes, the defending state champion in the javelin, came in second place with a throw that went 42.64 meters, while teammates Tuki Sauvao (Artesia HS) came in fourth place at 41.44 meters, while freshman Kelly Magana (Cantwell HS) recorded a distance of 37.74 for sixth place.

Dalton's other title came in the high jump, where she cleared 1.72 meters. Aundrea Yancey of West Los Angeles College also cleared 1.72 meters, but Dalton cleared the height in less attempts. In the long jump, Dalton leaped 5.79 meters, which earned her a second place finish, while her time of 14.69 in the 100-meter high hurdles put her in fourth place.

A trio of Cerritos athletes earned points for the team and put their names in third place on the school's top five list. In the hammer, sophomore Carissa English (Marina HS) finished in fifth place with a throw of 48.58, with freshman teammate Dorienne Ordaz (Bravo HS) finishing in ninth place at 44.70 meters. Freshman distance runner runner Karina Sanchez (Warren HS) recorded the third fastest time in the 10,000 meters at 38:33.34 to finish in fifth place, while freshman Amineh Beltran's (Warren HS) time in the 3000-meter steeplechase earned her a sixth place finish at 11:36.35.

Others who earned points for the Falcons were Sauvao in the discus (39.03 meters) to come in sixth place, with sophomore Tiffany Gray (El Dorado HS) posting a seventh place throw of 38.06 meters. Sophomore Larrisha Fields (Lakewood HS) took ninth place in the shot put at 12.72 meters, while freshman Kierra Miller (Carson HS) came in fourth place in the triple jump (11.48 meters), with sophomore Justina Cummings (Westchester HS) taking fifth at 11.05 meters. Sophomore Amber Greer (Palisades HS/ECC Compton Center) ran the 400-meter IH in a time of 1:05.27 to come in sixth place, while Sanchez finished 12th in the 5000 meters in 19:02.97.

The 400-meter relay team of sophomore Erin Reid (Long Beach Poly HS), Miller, Cummings and sophomore Khadijah Hall (Gahr HS) recorded a sixth place time of 48.36.

Below is a listing of the Cerritos College entries:

Javelin - Angel Sifuentes - 2nd Place
Javelin - Tuki Sauvao - 4th Place
Javelin - Kelly Magana - 6th Place
Discus - Tuki Sauvao - 6th Place
Discus - Tiffany Gray - 7th Place
Long Jump - Alexus Dalton - 2nd Place
Long Jump - Erin Reid - 4th Place
High Jump - Alexus Dalton - State Champion
High Jump - Nkechi Odili-Obi - 12th Place
Hammer - Carissa English - 5th Place
Hammer - Dorienne Ordaz - 9th Place
Shot Put - Larrisha Fields - 9th Place
Triple Jump - Kierra Miller - 4th Place
Triple Jump - Justina Cummings - 5th Place
3000 Meter Steeplechase - Amineh Beltran - 6th Place
400-Meter Relay - 6th Place
100-Meter HH - Alexus Dalton - 4th Place
400-Meter IH - Amber Greer - 6th Place
5000 Meters - Karina Sanchez - 12th Place
10,000 Meters - Karina Sanchez - 5th Place
10,000 Meters - Isabel Medina - 11th Place
Heptathlon - Alexus Dalton - State Champion
Heptathlon - Angel Sifuentes - 3rd Place