Naugle, Nevitt and Dionisio Advance to State with Fifth-Place Finishes at Regionals
Allan Hancock College sophomores Brent Dionisio, Taylor Nevitt and Rachel Naugle qualified for the CCCAA Track and Field State Championships with top-five finishes during the Southern California Regional Finals on Saturday at Cerritos College. The State Championships will be at American River College from May 19-20.
Naugle set a personal-best time in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase of 11:29.88 for a fifth-place finish. The sophomore beat her previous best-time by nearly 20 seconds. Canyons' Diani Ellis won the regional title by crossing the finish line in 11:26.91. The second, third and fourth-place runners finished within .62 of a second of each other.
Dionisio was one of six jumpers who cleared 6 feet, 4.75 inches. He finished fifth through the number of attempts. Bakersfield's Jacob Bookout won the SoCal title by clearing 6-6.75. Dionisio edged Bookout for the Western State Conference title last month.
Steven Youngblood finished tenth in the men's 3K steeplechase with a time of 9:52.35. The Hancock sophomore finished about 39 seconds behind the regional champion, Sean McDermott of Cuesta.
The Hancock women finished with eight total points in the team standings for a 15th place finish. The Hancock men came in 23rd place with four points from Dionisio's fourth-place finish.