State meet fuels Glendale Community College track’s efforts
Qualifying to the state championship meet was the one unifying goal for all Glendale Community College’s track and field athletes at Saturday’s California Community College Athletic Assn. Southern California Regional Finals at Cerritos College.
A few runners earned automatic advancement, others posted strong finishes and received at-large bids for the state championships, which are taking place Friday and Saturday at Sacramento American River College.
Overall, the Glendale women finished eighth with 33 points, while the men took 11th with 30 points.
Though Glendale Community College’s Angelica Salas entered Saturday’s 3000-meter steeplechase top-seeded, the freshman knew she’d have a battle with College of the Canyons sophomore Diani Ellis.
Salas finished second Saturday as Ellis took home the title in 11 minutes, 26.91 seconds.
There was little disappointment from Salas, though, as the runner posted a personal-best mark of 11:27.47.
Salas trailed early as she stumbled on the first water hurdle. She eventually moved into second place with 2 1/2 laps remaining before falling into fourth with 60 meters left.
Without a bell or lap counter, Salas was unaware she was on her final lap until late when she turned in a magnificent kick over the final 25 meters that saw her pass Riverside’s Sarah Hollis and Saddleback’s Rachel Oberschelp to earn silver.
“The whole time I didn’t have any idea what lap I was on,” Salas said. “When I saw everyone start kicking, I knew we were on the last lap and I knew I had to go.”
There were two automatic qualifiers out of the women’s 1,500-meter run for Glendale.
Sophomore Giselle Masedo, who’s heading to Loyola Marymount in the fall, battled being boxed in before separating over the final 300 meters and placing third in 4:43.14.
“It was like the last 400 meters or so when I just started pushing as hard as I could,” said Masedo, who just nipped her previous personal-best mark of 4:44. “I knew that I had to go, to start racing then and there or else I wouldn’t make it.”
Glendale High and Clark Magnet product Leana Setian also advanced as the sophomore finished eighth in 4:49.55, which just surpassed the state “A” qualifying standard of 4:50.70.
“It wasn’t my best race and it was tough to break out,” said Setian, who entered with a PR of 4:42, “but I’m looking forward to heading to state and doing my best.”
Masedo and Setian earned advancement to state in the 5K, as well, as Masedo took third (18:10.63) and Setian was fifth (18:24.13).
In the men’s 5K, Shane Thompson (second, 15:17.29) and Alejandro Ambrossio (fifth, 15:19.35) are also moving on along with teammates Raymond Lopez (12th, 15:38.22) and Phillip Thomas (21st, 15:56.36).
Glendale’s strong middle and long-distance running effort continued as former Glendale High standout Nona Boyajyan placed sixth in the 800-meter run in 2:18.94.
Boyajyan’s mark bested the state “A” standard of 2:19.40 and she grabbed an at-large berth.
The previous weekend, Lopez captured the championship 10,000-meter run in a time of 31:35.84 and earned advancement to the state meet out of the trials at Cerritos College. Lopez and Fabiola Naranjo (fourth, 37:57.81) qualified in the 10K race.
Saturday was a little bittersweet for Vaqueros sophomore Matthew Velasco, who tied Salas and Thompson for the program’s best individual finish.
Velasco placed second in the javelin with a throw of 163 feet, 1 1 1/4 inches (49.72 meters) through a crosswind, which trailed only winner Qwayjon Walker (168-4 3/4) of San Diego Mesa.
Saturday’s effort merited Velasco a provisional state qualifying mark, which turned into a state bid.
“I’m a little disappointment with the distance, but I was happy I finished second,” Velasco said. “I came into SoCal ranked No. 7, so it’s almost like I’m dreaming taking second.”
Other qualifiers included Paulo Vazquez in the 1,500 (11th, 4:06.92), Naranjo in the 5K (12th, 18:58.28), Christopher Cabrera in the long jump (12th, 21-0 1/4) and Robert Linares-Campos in the javelin (11th, 139-5).
Twitter: @campadresports
