Diverse Strengths Make Moorpark Track Threat

The Moorpark College men’s track and field team rode the broad shoulders of its weight-event performers to a fourth-place finish in last year’s Southern California championships, but the Raiders will show more balance when they take part in today’s 3 p.m. meet at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Weight events accounted for 36 of the Raiders’ 57 points in last year’s meet, but this season’s team is more diversified, led by javelin thrower Ken Teasley, 400-meter intermediate hurdler Joe Maashoff and 400 sprinter Bryan Krill.

Teasley was the leading qualifier (201 feet 8 inches) in last week’s preliminaries and he has the second-farthest throw (206-0) in the state this season behind Mike McClintock (210-3) of Golden West.

Maashoff is third on the state list in the 400 intermediate hurdles (52.39 seconds) and also will run a leg on the Raiders’ 1,600-meter relay team, which had the sixth-fastest qualifying time last week. Krill, the school record-holder in the 400 (47.1), will run in that event and also run legs on the 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

“I think he’s ready for a big race,” Coach Doni Green said.

Although the top six finishers in the field events and distance races will advance to next week’s state championships at Shasta College in Redding, only the top four finishers will qualify in the relays and running events measuring 800 meters or less because Shasta’s track has only eight lanes.

Moorpark, which won the Western State Conference title two weeks ago, again expected to score a substantial amount of points in the weight events, but Sean McKeown sustained a broken ankle in practice two days after finishing second in the shotput and third in the discus in the WSC meet. “He had ankle problems in the past and it just went out on him again,” Green said.

Valley, which finished third in the WSC meet, did not qualify as many athletes as Moorpark, but the Monarchs could contend for a top-five finish because of their strength in the sprints and hurdles.

Kyle Beck, the WSC champion in the 110 high hurdles, 400 intermediates and long jump, will compete in those events and also run legs on the Monarchs’ 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

Kevin Maxie, the No. 2 qualifier in the 200, and Ruben Benitez, the No. 4 entry in the 400, also will run legs on both relay teams.

Kim Nellis of Antelope Valley and Jennifer Stewart of Valley each have qualified for two events in the women’s meet. Nellis will run in the 100- and 400-low hurdles and Stewart will compete in the high jump and javelin.

Stewart won the 1991 state title in the high jump, but redshirted last year after suffering a season-ending knee injury.