Pirates cruise to victory in season-opening meet
COSTA MESA -- The 2022 season is off to a fine start for the Orange Coast College women's track and field team as the Pirates rolled to ten first-place performances in Friday's home meet with Cuyamaca, Palomar, El Camino and Southwestern colleges.
In addition to the 10 wins, it was a sea of orange and blue behind the winners as several events had several Pirates finish just below their victorious teammates.
In the 4x100 relay, it was a 1-2 finish for the Pirates, led by the team of Kailey Frye, Summer Farage, Razanne Dawood and Whitney Johnson, who finished first with a time of 50.92 seconds.
Another 1-2 OCC finish occurred in the 1,500, where McKay Arvidson finished with a time of 5:12.48, while teammate Jacqueline Rodriguez (5:30.35) finished runner-up.
Arvidson's most dominating performance came in the 3,000, where she finished first with a time of 11:14.15, which was 76 seconds better than the rest of the field.
Rodriguez claimed her victory in the 800 as she topped the field with a time of 2:39.69.
The field events were dominated by the hosts, led by 1-2-3-4-5 performances in the hammer throw, the javelin and the discus. Minami Cheever led the way for Coast, winning the hammer (106-9 1/2) and discus (97-7), while Leilani Cooley won the shot put (29-6 1/2) and finished runner up in the hammer (105-2) and Javelin (83-4 1/4).
Makenna Collins had the best throw in the javelin with a winning mark of 86-0 1/4 and she also placed second in the discus with a throw of 96-7 3/4.
Pole vaulter Angelica Gavia's mark of 8-5 1/2 was good enough for a first-place spot for the Pirates, as was Nicolette Gruber's jump of 5-2 1/2 in the high jump.
Coast will return to action on Friday, Feb. 25 at Orange Empire Conference Invitational -- hosted by Riverside College -- beginning at 12 p.m.
