Hartnell College may not be the largest community college in Northern California but it can boast that it has the best men's pole vaulter and women's 400 meter runner after Saturday's Northern California Track & Field Championship at DeAnza College. On the shoulders of a few key performances, both the men's and women's track & field teams were able to pick up third place regional trophies. This is the first time since 1998 both programs placed in the top three in the same year.
Sophomore
Austin Decker
got the monkey off his back in winning the pole vault title in just six jumps. His
winning height of 15'3.75" is over a foot below his season best but was over five
inches better than the second place pole vaulter. The state championship pole vault
competition will match Deck
er versus Shane Hoagland of Cuyamaca College. Hoagland matched Decker's national leading
pole vault jump of 16'6.50" at the Southern California Championship. Sophomore
Iesha Boyd
went from placing ninth in the 400 meter final last year to being this year's Norcal
champion defeating top ranked Karen Osuji of SJ Delta College. Boyd's winning time
of 55.68 betters her school record of 56.71 and also makes her the first woman in
Northern California to go under 56 seconds. She will be second ranked heading into
next week's State Championship. Freshman
Brandi Hobson
capped one of the finest championship meets for a Hartnell distance woman by placing
third in the 1500 meters in 4:51.23 and second in the 5000 meters at 18:48.60. Her
1500 meter mark moves her to seventh best in school history. Hobson won the Norcal
10,000 meter title as well in 38:54.08 last Friday. Sophomore
Michael Ramirez
also shined in the 1500 and 5000 meter events. Ramirez was second in metric mile
at 4:00.23 and 5000 meters in 15:23.04. He lead a pack of three Panther men in the
top five in the 1500
meters. Ramirez too placed second in last year's 10,000 meter final in 32:18.31.
Freshman
Justin Carrancho
placed third (4:00.61) and
Omar Vasquez
fifth (4:01.81). The pair also placed seventh and eighth in the 5000 meters. Sophomore
Kassandra Peguero
advanced to the state championship in both the long jump and triple jump. Peguero
leaped to season best 17'11.75" to take fourth in the long jump. The mark ties her
for sixth best in school history. Peguero was also third in the triple jump at 36'3.50".
The women's 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams earned trips to the state championship as
well. The both teams consisted of
Karina Carcamo
, Iesha Boyd,
Lenae Stevens
, and
Linda Delgado
. The 4x100 team placed fourth at 48.69 with the 4x400 in third at 4:00.19. Also placing
in scoring positions were Iesha Boyd fifth 200 meters (24.92),
Rachel Shimabukuro
sixth in the 1500 meters (4:57.11),
Dariani Salvador
seventh in the 5000 meters (19:38.58), Linda Delgado eighth 800 meters (2:26.61).
For full Norcal Championship results:
http://www.directathletics.com/results/track/34350.html