MARAUDERS ADVANCE 11 TO WSC TRACK FINALS

Antelope Valley College's Track & Field program hosted the Western State Conference Championship Preliminaries this past Friday. Eight individuals and 3 relay participants made their way to the April 26th Championship Finals at Bakersfield College. 

Eric Amaya, Kai Smithley, Leo Lopez, Jesus Flores, Ailani Salazar, and Brianna Dominguez compose the distance contingent scheduled to compete in the men's and women's 5k. Salazar is the only one of the 6 who has met the Southern California minimum for advancement to the May 10th finals in the 5k(as well as the 800 and 1500 standard), while Dominguez has met the minimum in the 1500 meters. 

Smithy and Lopez are close to the standard but will need their best runs of the year to achieve the mark. The men's 4x400 meter relay team of Jonathan Maldonado, Kevin Roland, Jorge Dela O Santillon, and Christian Rogers are also on the bubble but have high hopes to move on. Santillon had already booked his spot in the men's 400 final with an automatic qualifying run in his heat and hopes to improve on his 2023 second-place finish. 

As she has for most of the season, Kayla Thompson (the 2022 WSC 400 Champion) has maintained her position as the Southern California leader and #2 in the state. She also moved into the 200-meter final with a comfortable win in her heat, ranking 3rd fastest of the day. 

"We had a good day and look to better marks next week as the championship season moves in earnest to the State Meet May 17-18 at Saddleback College," commented head men's & women's track and cross country coach Tony Veney. Field events begin at noon, followed by the first running event at 1:00 pm.