de Comarmond Misses Spot in State Meet by 0.12 Second

Steven de Comarmond ran a new personal-best time, but he fell short of advancing to the State Track and Field Championships on Saturday during the Southern California Finals. The sophomore finished eighth in the men's 110 meter high hurdles final with a time of 15.26 seconds. The winner, Keithyon Moten of Riverside College, was clocked in 14.48 seconds.

Only the top six finishers in each event automatically advanced to the State Meet next weekend at Mt. San Antonio College. de Comarmond missed out on a spot by 0.12 of a second.

The Santa Maria High School graduate was Hancock's lone participant in the SoCal Finals. He completed a memorable season for the Bulldogs that included an individual Western State Conference title in the 110 meter high hurdles becoming the program's first individual conference champion since 2006. de Comarmond also finished second in the 200 meter dash and fifth in the 400 meter dash. With his help, the Hancock men finished sixth overall for their best showing at a WSC Championships since 1985.

Remarkably, de Comarmond only started to run the hurdles regularly in the middle of the season. Initially, he considered the event a 'warm up' for the 200 and 400 meter dashes.

de Comarmond was also instrumental in Hancock's first place finish during the Western State Conference Coastal Meet. The men won their first conference meet since Louie Quintana became the head coach 13 years ago. He won the 200 and finished second in the 110 high hurdles.

He hopes to continue his collegiate career at a four-year university.