SBCC’s Erika Schaeffer took the lead with 1,000 meters to go on Friday and went on to capture the women’s 3,000 Steeplechase in the Southern Cal Track & Field Championships at Mt. San Antonio College.
Schaeffer, a sophomore from Newbury Park, ran 11:20.71, which is the third-fastest in school history. She also has the No. 2 all-time mark of 11:17.
Schaeffer had trouble with the sun in her eyes on the early water jumps but was able to track down the top-seeded leader from Moorpark.
“Erika was able to close the gap around the mile mark,“ said coach Scott Fickerson. “She was looking directly into the sun on her first few water jumps, then she got used to the angle of the sun and started clearing them better. Once she took the lead with 1,000 meters to go, she quickly opened up a gap and never looked back as she ran to a comfortable win.”
Elisabeth Bransgard and Kelli Johnson also qualified for the State Championships on May 20-21 at American River in Sacramento. Bransgard took third in the discus (41.69 meters) and ninth in the javelin (29.06m) while Johnson was third in the high jump with her second-best leap of the year (1.67). Liza Messner was 10th at 1.46 meters.
Katie Voss took sixth in the women‘s 400 hurdles in 65.47. For the men, Matt Bailey was eighth in a personal-best 3:59.49. Voss and Bailey could still qualify for the State Finals, depending on the results from the Northern Cal Championships.
Cal Keating placed 10th in the long jump at 6.59 meters.
