W. Track & Field: Zharia Taylor places third at SoCal Heptathlon Championships

Zharia Taylor qualified for the 3C2A State Championships in the heptathlon
Zharia Taylor qualified for the 3C2A State Championships in the heptathlon

Sophomore Zharia Taylor (Long Beach Poly HS/University of Southern Mississippi) earned her spot in the 3C2A State Championships in May after coming in third place at the SoCal Heptathlon Championships. At the two-day event, which was held at Mt. San Antonio College, Taylor finished with 4228 points, which put her in third place out of 11 entries, while the Falcons also had two other entries. They included Alyssa Zabala (California HS), who finished in eighth place with 3380 points, while Amaya Nolan-Gieskes (Western HS) finished with 2619 points, which put her in 10th place.

Taylor earned her most points in the 200 meters, as her time of 26.28 scored her 773 points, while a second place time of 15.79 in the 100-meter HH added 740 points to her total. She also had third place finishes in the high jump at 1.58 meters, good for 712 points, while her long jump of 5.34 was third overall and netted her 654 points. Taylor was also fifth in the field in the 800 meters at 2:39.44 (579 points) and sixth in the shot put with a distance of 8.68 meters (444 points).

The best event for Zabala was the 100-meter HH, as her fourth place time of 16.26 scored her 683 points, while Nolan-Gieskes picked up a 357 points in the javelin with her distance of 23.63 meters.