Several Pirates qualify for CCCAA State Meet!
RIVERSIDE -- The distance events and jumps will be well represented with orange and blue as several Orange Coast College women's track and field members qualified for the State Meet after their strong performances at last weekend's Southern California Regional Finals, held at Riverside City College.
Leanne Allen, after cruising to a preliminary time of 2 minutes, 18.44 seconds in the 800, scorched the already-hot RCC track and won the Regional finals with a time of 2:11.47, over two seconds better than runner-up Maria Morales of Riverside (2:13.95). Allen and Morales had finished 1-2 at the Orange Empire Conference Championships two weeks ago.
In the 10,000, Pirate distance standout Guadalupe Cantoran, who finished fourth at the OEC finals, overcame the Inland Empire temps and finished second overall with a time of 39:43.
Another Regional runner-up came in the triple jump, where Sabrina Howe qualified for State with a mark of 37-feet, 2 1/2 inches, topping her OEC mark by nearly three feet (34-6 3/4). Her impressive mark set a new school record, breaking the previous mark of 36-8, set by Taylor Cusick in 2005.
Raeanna Cortez, OEC champion in the 1,500, qualified for State by finishing third in Regionals with a time of 4:45.03, five seconds better than her OEC Finals time.
Other top-10 performances for the Pirates include Sabrina Howe, who finished seventh in the heptathlon (3,929 points) and ninth in the high jump (4-11) and Nikki Puerner, who finished fifth overall in the long jump (17-5).
The 2014 California Community College Athletic Association State Meet will take place on Friday and Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.
