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Track and Field: MITCHELL WINS TWO STATE TITLES, SETS NATIONAL RECORD!
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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SAN MATEO -- It's only fitting that Cassie Mitchell put forth a scorching time under such scorching temperatures this past weekend, winning two state titles and setting a new national record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2009 State Track and Field Championships, held at College of San Mateo.
 Mitchell, already named the OCC Female Athlete of the Year, added a pair of state titles to her impressive resume, winning the 5,000 meters with a time of 17 minutes, 54.81 seconds, topping the field by nearly 20 seconds.
However, it was her 3,000 steeplechase time that turned heads and earned her the Women's State Performance of the Meet, blistering the track with a time of 10:44.46, the fastest community college time in the country.
Her time was a full 35 seconds faster than the runner-up and it shattered her previous-best time of 10:57.1 she posted at last week's Southern California Regionals.
"The weather was so unbelievably hot when she was running ... I really feel like she could have even gone lower if it was a bit cooler out there," OCC head coach John Knox said. "Not to mention that she was running by herself for most of the race, she didn't need to really push it down the stretch. It was an unbelievable performance."
Mitchell's performance highlighted a solid weekend for the OCC women, who finished fourth overall with 51.5 points, behind eventual champion Cerritos College's 107.5 points.
Another strong performance was turned in by Coast teammate Kimone Hewitt, who overcame temperatures in the mid-90s to notch a personal-best time of 4:21.26 in the 1,500. "As soon as she hit the tape, she was on the ground," Knox said of Hewitt. "They quickly took her to the medical tent, where they cooled her down, but she didn't have anything left for the 800 later in the day and she finished ninth (2:26.11)."
Other state meet performances from the Pirates include Audrey Crouse in the pole vault (third, 11 feet, 3 3/4 inches), Jade Leblanc in the pole vault (sixth, 9-10), Liana Fuentes in the high jump (seventh, 5-1), Margaret McDuffee in the 1,500 (seventh, 4:51.53) and Kristen Simek in the 5,000 (fifth, 19:11.13).
In the heptathlon, Brianna Vanderwal ended her Coast career with a solid fourth-place showing, earning 4,338 points, while Fuentes took seventh with 4,220.
On the men's side, Eric Grunbaum finished eighth in the shot put with a throw of 49-8 1/2 and Donovan Toban finished 12th in the triple jump (43-1/4).
(photo courtesy of John Goldman)
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