MARAUDER TRACK & FIELD LOSES HEARTBREAKER AT WSC INLAND

The Antelope Valley Men's and Women's Track and Field teams competed in the WSC Inland competition hosted by Bakersfield College on Friday. In addition to Bakersfield College, the Marauders faced conference foes Santa Monica, College of the Canyons, and Glendale College.

Bakersfield's men won the 5-team meet with 148 points, followed by Canyons (113), Glendale (104.5), Santa Monica (69.5), and AVC (69). In the dual competitions, the men were 1-3, gaining a 64-49 win over Santa Monica. The women fought tooth and nail, narrowly losing to Bakersfield 142 to 138. Canyons (73), Glendale (66), and Santa Monica (30) rounded out the women's team scores. The Marauder women would go 3-1 in the dual scores losing to Bakersfield 72-66 while winning comfortably over Canyons, Santa Monica, and Glendale.

In the combined team scoring, it was Bakersfield 290, AVC 251, Canyons 177, Glendale 135.5, and Santa Monica 99. TJ Graham led the Marauder men with 3 second-place finishes in the 100 and 200 meters and anchoring the second-place 4x100 relay. Sade Vasquez was a high point for the Marauder women with one first place in the triple jump, three second-place finishes in the high jump and long jump, and 4x400 relay, and a 3rd place in the 100-meter hurdles.

"The cold and windy conditions were not conducive for good marks, but I was encouraged by the effort each young person put out, " commented head track coach Tony Veney. "In our meeting the day before, we emphasized how important it was for everyone to be ready to dig deep when the meet got tight... the final scores were an indication of that buy-in, and it bodes well for the Conference and Regionals next month," he added.

The Marauders return to Moorpark college (the site of the WSC finals), on Friday, March 31st, for the Moorpark Open. Field and running events are scheduled for a noon start.