MOORPARK, Calif. – Cal Lutheran men's and women's track and field turned in another strong performance at the Moorpark College Open on Friday, highlighted by two event wins and 23 personal bests on the windy afternoon.
Sophomore
Niani Jones and junior
Cheyanne Rodriguez led the way for the Regals, each winning gold in their respective events. Jones claimed the triple jump title with a mark of 10.86m, while also placing third in the long jump at 4.93m. Rodriguez dominated the throws once again, taking the hammer with 45.29m. She added a pair of podium finishes with second-place in the discus (32.54m) and third in the javelin (30.24m).
First-year sprinter
Gracie Gervacio also impressed on the track, placing third in the 100 with 12.46 and fifth in the 200 with 25.85. In the jumps, the women added more strong finishes with
Fatima Cervantes and
Taylor Dominguez taking third and fifth in the high jump, respectively.
Sophia Green contributed in the throws, placing fourth in the hammer with 37.74m and eighth in the shot put with 8.54m.
On the men's side, the Kingsmen delivered several top-five performances, including a silver medal in the 4x400m relay. The team of
Brady Karsten,
Dominic De Leon,
Adrian Rodriguez, and
Joseph Papa clocked a 3:30.96 to finish second overall.
Individually, De Leon raced to a third-place finish in the 400 hurdles (1:00.60), while
Drew Nees and
Camden Hyde were the runner ups in the high jump (1.90m) and long jump (6.67m), respectively.
Landen Meonske placed fourth in the long jump with 6.47m, and
Darrin Parham landed third in the triple jump with a mark of 13.19m. Papa (400 meter), Karsten (800 meter), and
Eric Talbert (1500 meter) also put forth solid efforts in their events as the first Kingsmen to cross the finish line.
In the throws,
Wyatt Nowak was busy across three events, finishing eighth in the hammer with 39.23m, 11th in the shot put with 10.94m, and 13th in the discus with 33.72m.
Jaden Ruiz followed in the hammer with a tenth-place finish at 34.63m, and
Julian Sepulveda took sixth in the javelin with 39.77m.
With less than a month to go before the SCIAC Championships, Head Coach
Brett Halvaks is excited about the progress the teams have made so far this season. The Regals and Kingsmen look to carry their momentum into the weekend at the Pomona-Pitzer Invite on April 12.
