MARAUDERS FIND SUCCESS AT HOME PRELIMS

(PHOTOS by Brooke Steedman & Andrew Rivera)

The Antelope Valley College Men's and Women's Track and Field teams began their state meet run, hosting the Western State Conference Preliminaries at Brent Carder Marauder Stadium on Friday. Two track and eight field event finals would qualify the top 7 in each event to the Regional Preliminaries on May 5th at San Diego Mesa College.

Ella Gallawek started the auto qualifying with a personal best in the shot put, placing 6th overall, while Sade Vasquez placed 5th in the high jump, also with a personal best.

Heartbreak in the men's long jump saw Machuokwu Ene's personal best distance fall short by a mere 7cm from moving on to San Diego.

On the track qualifiers from day one included Prishencia Nnoham in the 400 and 200 meters (both personal best times), Rosa Aquiano in the 800 and 1500 meters (both personal best times), Jorge Dela O Santillan 400 meters (personal best), Sade Vasquez 100 meter hurdles (personal best), and Celeste Meza in the 400-meter hurdles.

TJ Graham also saw heartbreak as his lifetime best in the 100-meter sprint rounds saw him miss next week's final by a scant 0.07 seconds.

The Marauders will send 17 athletes participating in nine events to Moorpark for the finals, with the potential to send double-digit qualifiers to San Diego.

"We competed well today," head Track and Field coach Tony Veney commented. "Along with the young people moving on, we had close to a dozen seasonal bests from men and women who did not advance but showed their best efforts on the day. We still have some unfinished business ahead of us, and the whole staff has the young people primed and ready." Veney added. Moorpark College will serve as the host for the final day of the championships. Field events begin at noon, while the first running event is slated for a 1 pm start time.