Complete Results

Led by seven first place finishes, the Cerritos College women's track and field team was able to score enough points to win their second straight CCCAA State Championship on Saturday at San Diego Mesa College. The Falcons, winners of six state titles in the last 11 years, finished with 92 team points, which was 12 more than second place Riverside City College. The state title was also their seventh in school history.

Leading the team was sophomore thrower Destiny Talalemotu (Long Beach Millikan HS), who won three state championships and finishes her Falcon career with five championships. She took first place in the hammer on the first day and then added titles in the discus and shot put on the second day. Although Talalemotu didn't break any of her school records, she won each event quite handily and was named the State Championship Field Athlete of the Year. Talalemotu is only the third athlete to win those three events at the same state meet, the others being Sacramento's Sara Clinkenbeard (2004) and Moorpark's Amy Thiel (2000). She repeated her state titles in the shot put and discus (from 2014) and becomes the first women's athlete to ever win five state throwing titles.

In the heptathlon, freshman Juanita Webster (Redlands HS) came back in the final two events of the seven-event competition to win the state championship. She threw a personal best 36.77 meters in the javelin and finished off the event with the best time of 2:25.14 in the 800 meters to earn her a comfortable cushion over all of the competition. Freshman teammate Giselle Burgos (El Rancho HS) ran in step with Webster in the 800 meters to post the second fastest time, which also allowed her to move into eighth place overall and earn the team a point in the standings.

Sophomore sprinter Najia Hudspeth (Kennedy HS) ran a personal best time of 11.63 in the 100 meters and earned a third place finish. She came back to edge Strangenae Campbell of Diablo Valley College to win the 200 meters. The two runners were neck and neck in the final 25 meters, with Hudspeth's time .09 seconds ahead of Campbell. Twin sister Nylia Hudspeth (Kennedy HS) turned in a third place finish in the 400 meters. The two were joined by Rabia Hawes (Long Beach Wilson HS) and Meka Story (Gahr HS) for a personal best time of 46.00 to win the state championship.

Hawes and the Hudspeth sisters had Tyler Simpson (Dominguez HS) as their anchor in the 1600-meter relay, with the Falcons leading until the final stretch. They were in a tight battle with College of the Sequoias and Mt. San Antonio College until Simpson knocked the baton out of her hand after coming out of the final turn. She was still able to pick it up and earn the Falcons a third place finish.

In the high jump, freshman Bria Palmer (J.W. North HS) was facing Julia Grimm of Santa Rosa Junior College, who set the state's best mark during the heptathlon at 1.76 meters. Palmer, who passed on the first two heights, was able to clear 1.69 meters to win the state championship, with Grimm taking second place at 1.64 meters.

Below is a list of Falcons who competed at the CCCAA State Championships:

Photos by Daryl Peterson