Hancock Track and Field Heads to WSC Finals on Friday
The Allan Hancock College track and field team will travel to Moorpark College for the Western State Conference Finals on Friday, April 28. A handful of Bulldogs will be in action this week after competing at last week's WSC Prelims. The Hancock men enter in seventh place with 14.5 points earned so far. The Hancock women are tied for fifth place with 17 points. Last week, the Bulldogs competed at the Western State Conference Prelims at Bakersfield College.
Sophomore Brent Dionisio (Pioneer Valley HS) won the men's high jump title last week with a personal-best mark of 6 feet, 10.75 inches, and qualified for the SoCal Regional Prelims. He also finished ninth in the long jump final. Freshman Ben Wulfestieg (Cabrillo HS) finished sixth in the men's shot put final with a top mark of 41 feet, one inch. Laron Gilchrist (Western Harnett HS) finished seventh in the men's discus throw final with a top mark of 127 feet, nine inches. The throwers will compete in the men's javelin and hammer throw finals.
Sophomore Steven Youngblood (Pioneer Valley HS) will run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 1,500-meter finals. Youngblood's time of 4:06.36 was the fastest out of the 37 athletes in the 1,500 preliminary heats. He also finished 11th in the 10,000-meter final last week with a time of 35:11.66.
Freshman Jose Rodriguez (Cabrillo HS) will compete in the men's pole vault final this week. He enters fifth in the pole vault at 14-5.25, or about one foot, 4.75 inches behind the conference leader.
Last week, sophomore Rachel Naugle (Graceway Private) finished third in the women's 10,000-meter final with a time of 40:11.53, about 12 seconds behind the winner. Naugle qualified for a spot in the SoCal Regional Prelims. She will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5K finals this week. Sophomore Taylor Nevitt (Nipomo HS), the defending shot put conference champion, finished third in the shot put this year with a top mark of 36 feet, eight inches. She also finished fourth in the discus throw with a mark of 110 feet, eight inches. Nevitt qualified for the SoCal Regional Prelims in both events. She will compete this week in the javelin throw and hammer throw events.
The SoCal Prelims will take place May 6, and the SoCal Finals are set for May 13. Both meets will take place at Cerritos College.