East Los Angeles College All-American Earns T&F State Title
BAKERSFIELD, CA — All-American Joshua Taylor of the East Los Angeles College track and field team earned an individual CCCAA T&F State Championship for the men’s team for the first time in 10 years.
The sophomore won the triple jump on his fifth attempt. In the preliminary round, Taylor had just one eligible jump, which was 14.61 meters, good enough for the top-seed heading into the final round. In the finals, Taylor lost the first-place nod to Mt. San Antonio College sophomore Brandon McLaurin during the penultimate jump.
With all eyes upon Taylor on his final jump, he calmly won the title with a leap of 14.79-meters (48 feet, 6.25 inches, which vaulted into the Top-20 National Poll as the No. 18th jump in the nation. It was ELAC’s first men’s state title since 2008.
Olympian Kenneth Medwood won ELAC’s last men’s individual state title, which was in the 400-meter hurdles. Medwood represented Belize in the London Olympics and then placed one spot out of the finals.
ELAC placed ninth in the team standings this year, its best finish since 2008 when they placed eighth. The Huskies also defeated South Coast Conference rival Cerritos College at the state finals for the first time in 10 years.
ELAC T&F coach Milton Browne has taken the men’s track and field team from obscurity and turned them into a Top-10 state team in just two years.
Taylor placed second in the long jump with a leap of 7.46 meters (24' 5.75"). His mark today made the National Top-20 Poll in the event and is the13th best jump in the nation.
His gold and silver medals today earned him his second and third All-American nods. Taylor won his first such award at the 2015 State Championships with a third-place triple jump of 15.08 meters.
Follow ELAC Athletics at http://athletics.elac.edu/landing/index or on Facebook at ELAC Huskies Athletics (@elachuskiesathletics).
FROM THE CCCAA WEBSITE:
A national telecast of the 2018 California Community College Athletic Association Track & Field Championships will debut on ELEVEN SPORTS USA on Wednesday evening, May 30, from 6-8 p.m. (P.T.).
The 2-hour edited show from the 68th state meet at Bakersfield College has re-airs, scheduled for Thursday, May 31, 10 p.m. – midnight (P.T.) and for June 5, 7–9 a.m. (P.T.).
ELEVEN SPORTS is available on many satellite and cable outlets throughout the country, including on DIRECTV channel 623, Verizon Fios channel 597, and AT&T U-verse channel 1665.
It is believed that this is the first national network telecast of a CCCAA championship event. Track & field is the CCCAA’s largest state championship -- with more than 80 women’s and men’s teams involved this year!
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia