Glendale Community College Track and Field Preview: Vaqueros focus on improvement
Even though the expectations vary for the Glendale Community College men’s and women’s track and field teams, the drive for improvement remains the same.
The Vaqueros will open the season at El Camino College on Feb. 2 looking to be a factor in the Western State Conference while hoping to advance as many athletes as possible into the Southern California and state postseason.
“We’re pretty strong with the guys, especially in the distances and I think we can win another Western State title,” GCC coach Eddie Lopez said. “With the women, the numbers aren’t that high. I think it’s fair to say they’re middle of the pack, but we’ll be fighting to move up.”
The men are coming off a season in which they won the conference crown at the finals at Bakersfield College.
Glendale boasted three conference champions, with Alejandro Ambrossio (5,000 meters and 10,000) and Glendale High alumnus Paulo Vazquez (800 meters) taking home titles.
Maybe the most excitement revolves around sophomore Raymond Lopez. After finishing third in conference in the 10K in 34 minutes, 00.49 seconds, Lopez responded by winning a Southern California championship in a personal-best time of 31:35.84.
“I’m running both the 5K and 10K and there are some differences in how you run them,” Lopez said. “In the 5K, you just have to race without hesitation. In the 10K, you have to be more patient and conscious about the type of race it’s going to be. Last year, I panicked at state and didn’t have the race (finished seventh in 33:03.92) I would have liked to.”
Lopez will look for contributions this season from Vazquez in the 800 and 1,500, Crescenta Valley product Phillip Thomas in the 5K and 10K, freshman Shannon Thomas in the 800 and Northwest Christian University bounce-back Sam Brewster in the throws.
“I feel like I’m OK in all the throws with my best event probably being the discus,” Brewster said. “Where I need the most improvement is the shot. In all of them, at the very least, I want to make it to conference finals.”
The Glendale men tied for 11th (30 points) in Southern California and tied for 21st (nine points) in state.
As for the women, the Vaqueros finished fifth at conference finals.
Glendale does not return any of its three conference champions from last year and graduated or lost the majority of its big scorers.
Lopez is hoping some of the scoring void will be filled by No. 2 cross-country runner Jennifer Cazares.
“Most likely I’m going to do the 10K,” Cazares said. “It’s not the same distance in cross-country, but the work with endurance and staying healthy is the same. I had a (thigh) injury last year and I learned from that and will try to finish the season healthy.”
Like Cazares, cross-country runner Daisy Romero will look to make an impact in the distances.
One of Lopez’ wild cards will be Deja Marsh, a former Birmingham High star thrower who is competing in the discus, shot put, hammer and javelin.
“It’s a little bit harder doing the hammer, but I picked up the javelin pretty easy,” Marsh said. “I really want to get better as the season goes.”
The Vaqueros finished eighth (33 points) at the Southern California finals and 10th (30) at state last year.
