GCC Track and Field competes in WSC Inland Meet March 24

The track and field teams took part in their first conference meet of the season at Bakersfield this past weekend. The men took 3rd place scoring a total of 104.5 points. In the 100m, Xavier Rojas finished in 6th place with a time of 11.64, while Aaron Flores finished in 8th place with a time of 11.70. In the 200m, Aaron Flores tied for 5th place with a time of 23.32. Other 200m finishers were Sean Miller who took 12th place with a time of 24.31, Xavier Rojas (25.27) who took 17th, Willie Mejia (25.41) who grabbed 19th place, and Kevin Valenzuela (27.06) who finished in 22nd place. In the 400m, Renee Cedeno took 5th with a time of 51.85, and Kevin Valenzuela took 15th with a time of 1:01.87. Julius Largespada won the 800m with a time of 1:57.35. The 800m also saw Kevin Vasquez (2:01.60) who took 6th place, Jeremiah Galloway (2:08.19) who took 13th, and Alexander Ibarra (2:10.10) who finished in 16th place. The 1500m had four competitors including Ezequiel Soto who finished in 2nd with a time of 4:05.75, Kevin Vasquez who finished 7th in a time of 4:09.50, Abdiel Quero who took 8th in a time of 4:10.14, and Jeremiah Galloway who took 11th in a time of 4:17.30. Julius Largaespada also won the 3000m in an impressive time of 8:37.44. Abdiel Quero took 4th with a time of 9:05.60 with Ezequiel Soto finishing right behind him in a time of 9:19.64. Brandon Rivas-Gramajo also ran the 3000m in a time of 9:52.52. The 4x400 relay team took 4th with a time of 3:35.16. In the field events, Kevin Gomez won both the hammer (45.95m) and shot put (12.39m). Lincoln Guerrero had a PR in the hammer with a toss of 40.99m and a 2nd place finish, while taking 5th place in the discus with a throw of 30.30m. John Westwood had a PR in both the shot put (11.87m) and the discus (34.92m), winning the discus and taking 3rd in the shot put. Julius Dawoodtabar took 6th in the shot put with a throw of 9.57m and 2nd in the discus with a throw of 33.22m. Zaven Shakenians took 10th in the discus with a PR of 22.38m, 10th in the shot put with a toss of 7.34m, and 9th in the javelin with a throw of 23.42m. Willie Mejia finished in 3rd place in javelin with a throw of 40.85m.

On the women's side, the team took 4th place, scoring a total of 66 points. Destiny Lopez ran both the 1500m (4:49.68) and the 3000m (10:23.19). Samantha Medrano took 3rd place in the 1500m with a time of 4:49.90. Norma Martinez took 8th place in the 1500m with a time of 5:31.19, and 5th place in the 3000m with a time of 11:54.87. In the field events, Kaylyn Guerra took 2nd place in the hammer with a throw of 34.32m, 3rd place and 3rd place in the javelin with a throw of 28.73m. Vanessa Portillo took 2nd place in the javelin and 2nd place in the hammer with a toss of 35.47m. The team will travel to Moorpark College on Friday March 31 for the Moorpark Invitational.

Recap by Assistant Coach Matthew Osherow. Photo by Kevin Guerrero