Sports
West LA College Relays Qualify for State Finals
The 4x100 and 4x400 men's and women's teams burn up the track at the SoCal Meet.
The West Los Angeles College track and field program turned plenty of heads last weekend at the Southern California Regional Championship Meet in Walnut. It was the only one to have both its men's and women's 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams advance to the state finals.
The Wildcats' women ran 3:45:26 in the 4x400—the fastest time by a California Community College team in 15 years. Freshman Selina Collins handed off the baton to Keshawna Fisher after the first lap in first place Friday and the Wildcats never looked back as they easily won the final event of the evening. The duo teamed up with Reanna Davison and Dyneeca Adams to set a school-record time.
Two other school records were set Friday night, as Patrick Hunter leaped 24 feet, 11 inches in the long jump and Adams ran 2:11.79 in the 800 meters. Adams broke her own school record set the previous week while Hunter shattered the mark of 24 feet, three inches set by Alan Hollis in 1974.
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Jonathan Kelly just missed setting another school record in the 400 hurdles, as he came within .08 seconds of Luc-Richard Elie’s standard, but he finished third and qualified for the state meet. Hunter also qualified for the state meet in the triple jump after a total distance of 49 feet, good enough for second place.
Kemi Olonade qualified in both horizontal jumps as she took second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump. Two Wildcats men qualified for the state meet as individuals in the 400 meters—Jonathan Byrd and Terrence Conway—as each ran the race in under 48 seconds.
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The West LA women's squad finished last weekend's competition fifth overall with 38 points. Mt. San Antonio College won with 143, followed by El Camino (94), Cerritos (73) and Riverside (54).
The West LA men's squad was sixth with 41 points. Mt. San Antonio College won with 100 points, followed by Cerritos and Riverside (88), El Camino (53) and Saddleback (42).
The 2011 California State Championships will be held this weekend in Sacramento.
Both West LA teams captured the Western State Conference championship this season—the first time in school history that both the men's and women's teams won in the same year. It was the second conference title in a row for the women.
