Valerio Earns Two Top-Three Finishes at WSC Prelims to Qualify for SoCal Regionals

Allan Hancock College freshman Davina Valerio finished second in the women's pole vault and third in the long jump final during the 2019 Western State Conference Track and Field Preliminaries on Friday at Santa Barbara City College. The prelims served as the finals for four field events: the discus throw, shot put, pole vault, and long jump. The top six in each event automatically advanced to next month's Southern California Regionals Prelims.

Valerio's top mark in the long jump was 16 feet, 2.5 inches. West L.A.'s Ashlie Curenton won with a mark of 17-9.5. The former Hancock basketball player and Pioneer Valley High School graduate also finished runner-up to Cuesta's Nikki Liddicoat in the pole vault. Valerio cleared a height of 9-0.25 to earn eight points for Hancock. Liddicoat cleared 9-6.25 to win the title. With her two top-three finishes, Valerio earned a total of 14 points for Hancock.

On the Hancock men's side, Kevin Lopez finished 18th in the discus throw with a toss of 99-8, and 21st in the shot put with a mark of 34-7. Jacob DeSimas finished 20th in the discus with a mark of 98-9, and 23rd in the shot put with a toss of 32-4.75,

During the WSC Prelims, runners in the sprint and middle distance events were looking to qualify for next week's WSC Finals. Letarian Brandon competed in multiple events for the Hancock men'. He finished 15th in the long jump with a top jump of 19-1.5. He placed fourth in his heat and tenth overall in the men's 400-meter dash, crossing the line in 51.66 seconds. In the 200-meter dash, Brandon came in 13th out of more than 50 runners with a time of 23.37 seconds.

Jose Cardenas ran the 800-meter event in 2:12.35 to come in 26th place out of 41 runners.

On the track for the Hancock women, Michele Marceleno finished ninth in her heat in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 6:20.46.Yadira Castellanos placed fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:07.61, which was good enough to qualify ninth for next week's final. Castellanos also finished 21st in the 200-meter dash with a time of 30.00 seconds.

The WSC Finals will take place next Friday, April 26 at Moorpark College. In addition to the finals of the sprint and middle-distance races, next week's final will also include the men's and women's triple jump, high jump, javelin, hammer throw, and 5,000-meter finals.

After Friday's five scoring events, the Hancock women are in fifth place out of ten teams with 14 points. Cuesta leads with 45.5 points, followed by Ventura with 36, West L.A. with 35.5, and Moorpark with 22.

The Southern California Prelims will be on Friday, May 3 at Riverside College.