Orange Coast College

Track: Several Pirates earn trip to State Championships

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

BAKERSFIELD -- It was another successful weekend for the Orange Coast College men's and women's track teams at the Southern California Championship Meet, held on Saturday at Bakersfield College.

Led by a third-place team finish, several of the OCC women qualified for a spot at next weekend's State Championships, to be held Friday and Saturday at Cerritos College.

Headlining Saturday's action for the women was standout Cassie Mitchell, who topped them all in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a winning time of 11 minutes, 11.37 seconds, a full 24 seconds faster than runner-up Zitlalic Ley of Glendale (11:35.65).

Mitchell also earned a lane assignment in the 800 with a third-place time of 2:18.80, joining teammate Rachael Ronquillo, who finished fourth with a 2:19.77. The top four finishes in each Regional earned a spot at the State Championships (the top-six qualify in field events and non-lane races).

Freshman distance runner Crystal Reed qualified for State in three different events with a second-place finish in the 10,000 (37:42.9), a third-place finish in the 1,500 (4:42.58) and a third-place finish in the 5,000 (18:25.79).

Another triple-qualifying Regional came from sophomore standout Brenda Finney, who earned a second-place finish in the 400 hurdles (1:02.76), a third-place performance in the heptathlon (4,317 points) and was a member of the third-place 1,600 relay with Brianna Vanderwal, Ashley Rodriguez and Madison Empting (3:56.28).

Vanderwal also qualified in the 400 hurdles with a fourth-place time of 1:04.03, while Rodriguez earned a spot in the 400 with a third-place time of 57.83.

On the men's side, the Pirates finished 16th as a team and had a pair of performers earn a spot at Cerritos.

Sophomore thrower Andres Rossini topped the field in the javelin with a winning throw of 170 feet, 7 inches, clearing all throwers by over six feet along the way.

Joining Rossini on the bus to the State Meet will be Stephan Ruby, who placed sixth in the javelin, with a throw of 192-5.