Huskies Have Two SCC Champions
For the fourth time out of five years the track and field men’s and women’s teams have individual South Coast Conference champions.
For the second consecutive year the Huskies have SCC champions from both teams.
All-American sophomore Laura Aceves won SCC titles in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter runs at the SCC finals held on April 21/25 at Cerritos College.
Freshman and No. 6-seed Joshua Taylor won the men’s long jump with a personal record. He tied with sophomore Williams Ingram of Cerritos College, but was awarded first place because he had a longer second-best jump.
The women’s team placed fourth defeating Long Beach City College by six points. The men’s team took fifth place.
Nine Huskies qualified for the SoCal Preliminary and Championship rounds May 2 (preliminaries) and May 9 (finals) at Cerritos College out of the SCC.
“We have a large group and believe they will get through this round to the next,” said ELAC Head Coach Louis Ramirez.
Huskies that move on to the SoCal finals include Aceves in the 10,000-meter and 5,000 runs and sophomore Guadalupe Yanez in the 5,000 run as well.
Huskies moving on to the SoCal preliminaries on the women’s side include freshmen Maureen Contreras in the shot put and discus, Darling Durant (shot put) and Kaniya Bawlson in the long jump.
Contreras and Taylor recorded two personal records in two events at the right time of the season.
Taylor placed second in the men’s triple jump also with a personal record. “We worked on his approach, which he remembered and took care of business to win first and second places,” said ELAC Assistant Coach David Loera.
ELAC men that advanced to the SoCal preliminaries include Taylor in the long and triple jumps, freshmen Andrew Perez in the steeplechase, Cesar Santiesteban in the shot put and Ramiro Arreola in the shot put and javelin.
Arreola and Contreras are the first Huskies since 2004 to qualify for SoCal in the two throwing events each.
Arreola was seeded in three events (second in the shot put) to move on to SoCal, but injured himself on Tuesday in the javelin throw at the SCC preliminaries. He reinjured himself throwing in the SCC discus finals today.
“He only needs to place in the top 12 of his events to advance to the SoCal finals on May 9,” said ELAC Throws Coach Ernesto Zuniga. “Hopefully he will improve by then and will be in top form.”
Before his injury, Arreola had one of the best throws in Southern California in both the shot put and the javelin. He competed in the javelin for the first time ever at the SCC prelims.
Bawlson, No. 2-seed in the women’s high jump, did not compete in the event due to rain delay and a prior commitment. She is, however, seeded to advance to the state finals in the long jump.
ELAC Results at the SCC Prelims and Finals
Top seven places advances to SoCal except in the hammer throw
Includes top SCC finalists (F) and semifinalists (S) and top 10 finishes
100-meter dash – Taylor (S), freshman Alease Wilson (S)
200-meter dash – Wilson (S)
400-meter dash – freshman Carlos Gonzalez (S)
800 run – freshman Andrew Perez (S), Aceves (S)*
1,500-meter run – Alexis Cubias (S)
5,000 run – Perez (F), freshmen Justin Torres (F) and Fernando Jauregui (F)
5,000 run – Aceves (1st), Yanez, freshmen Luz Badillo (F) and Melissa Preciado (F), sophomore Sandy Bautista (F)
10,000 run – Torres (F), freshmen Daniel Lopez (F) and Jauregui (F)
10,000 run – Yanez (7th place), Badillo (9th), Melissa Preciado (F)
100-meter hurdles – Wilson (S), freshman Jessica Perez (S)
Steeplechase – Andrew Perez (7th), Jauregui, Aceves (1st), Badillo (6th), Bautista (9th)
Pole Vault – Jessica Perez (S)
Long Jump –Taylor (1st), Bawlson (3rd), Wilson (S)
Triple Jump-Taylor (2nd)
Shot put – freshman Cesar Santiesteban (3rd), Arreola (4th), Nelson Na (S)
Shot put – Durant (3rd), Contreras (5th), freshmen Arianna Carter (F), Karissa Cabral (S), Brielle Moore (S)
Discus – Santiesteban (7th), Arreola (9th), Na (S)
Discus - Contreras (6th), Carter (9th), Durant (10th)
Hammer Arreola (7th), Durant (9th), Moore (10th), Contreras (F)
Javelin – Arreola (5th), Eduardo Encarnacion (10), Cesar Gutierrez (S), Alfredo Escalera (S)
*Aceves ran the second fastest time in the 800 run at the SCC prelims, but opted to forego the finals to focus on the longer 5k, 10k and 3k steeplechase runs for the remainder of the season. She is seeded in five events to place at state and is the defending state champion in the 10k and the steeplechase.