Nine Pirates qualify for SoCal Finals
SAN DIEGO -- Nine members of the Orange Coast College track and field teams will be competing in the finals of the Southern California Regional Track Championships, thanks to some impressive performances at last weekend's SoCal Preliminaries, hosted by San Diego Mesa College.
Coast will have participants in eight different events -- four women's events and four men's events -- and the Pirates will have opportunities to qualify for the California Community College Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships, set for May 18-19 at Bakersfield College.
On the men's side, OCC's Austin Brown qualified for the Regional finals in the 400 meters after finishing second overall with a time of 48.04 seconds, trailing only Keylan Dennis of Riverside City College (47.15).
Brown's teammate, sophomore Alixander Morse qualified ninth overall in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 15.31.
Morse and Brown will also join fellow Pirates Cody Epstein and Christian Lopez in the finals of the 1,600-meter relay after qualifying eighth with a time of 3:23.43.
In the javelin throw, the prelims and finals will take place this weekend, with Drew Dobbs in competition for the Pirates.
On the women's side, Michelle Morgan will earn her place in the travel vans to San Diego by qualifying for both the 1,500 and 5,000. In the 1,500, Morgan qualified eighth with a time of 5:02, while in the 5K, she qualified with a time of 20:50.16.
Morgan's teammate, Elizabeth Diaz Cortes will join her Pirate runningmate in the 5,000 after qualifying with a time of 22:15.50.
In a much faster event, OCC's Paige Fults picked up the ninth qualifying spot in the 100 with a time of 12.44, while in the discus, Raelynn Denson notched a throw of 99-feet, 5 3/4 inches to qualify for the finals in that event.
