Moorpark Pulls Together and Wins Title

Moorpark College overcame an injury to one of its top performers to win its second consecutive Western State Conference women’s track and field championship Friday at Bakersfield College.

The Raiders had 185 points, followed by Bakersfield with 168 1/2, Santa Barbara at 77, Antelope Valley with 54 and Ventura at 42.

Moorpark’s championship chances appeared to take a nose dive early in the meet when Angela Foster pulled a muscle in her right shoulder in the javelin.

The injury limited Foster to a seventh-place finish in the javelin and forced her to withdraw from the shotput and discus, events she was favored to win.

Moorpark appeared to be in trouble without the 20 points Foster was expected to score with two victories, but Shannon Livingston and Denaye Lakotich helped the Raiders overcome that setback.

Livingston accounted for 29 1/2 points by winning the 100 meter high hurdles in 14.72, placing third in the 100 in 12.98, tying for fourth in the high jump at 4-10, fifth in the 200 in 26.91 and running on teams that won the 400 relay in 49.99 and the 1,600 relay in 4:06.34.

Lakotich totaled 27 1/2 points by finishing second in the 400 low hurdles in 1:06.18, tying for third in the pole vault at 8-6, placing fourth in the 400 in 1:02.01, fifth in the 100 highs in 17.25 and running on both relays.

Bakersfield totaled 218 1/2 points to win its sixth consecutive men’s title, with Santa Monica second with 92, Moorpark third with 91 1/2 and Glendale fourth with 59.

Jose Merino won the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:26.10 and the 5,000 in 15:26.42 for Glendale after winning the 10,000 in 32:32.48 six days earlier.