It was a banner day for the SBCC track team as personal bests abounded on Friday in the WSC Track & Field Championships at Moorpark College.
Freshman Tristan Lake captured the 400 hurdles title in 53.69 seconds, the No. 2 mark in school history. He missed the school record by three-tenths of a second. It was his sixth win of the year and he’s unbeaten against community college hurdlers.
Matthew Bailey qualified third in the 800 (1:55.88) and 1500 meters. His 1500 time of 3:51.91 broke the school record, set in 1976 by David Haake, by nearly four seconds.
Freddie Maldonado was fifth in the 800 in 1:57.21. Cody Uhrig was fifth in the 400 in 49.61. The top six in each event advanced to the Southern Cal Prelims on May 5 at San Diego Mesa.
Eighteen Vaqueros qualified for the prelims with another two on the bubble. The tally was 10 men and 8 women.
“That’s the highest total since I’ve been here and all but one of our marks were season bests,” said coach Scott Fickerson. “It was an amazing day. I couldn’t have asked for any more from my kids. I’m very proud of the team.”
West L.A. won the men’s meet with 135 points. SBCC took fifth (the highest in Fickerson’s four seasons) with 77 points. Ventura was fourth, a half-point ahead of the Vaqueros. Cuesta won the women’s meet with 119 points. Santa Barbara was ninth at 52.
Twelve schools competed in the men’s and women’s meets.
The men’s 4×100 squad placed fourth in 42.09. The 4×400 unit was fourth in 3:17.49, the 2nd-fastest time in school history. Lake, Cliff Lekas, Maldonado and Uhrig missed the school record by .45 seconds.
Scott Santella was second in the high jump at 6-2¾, another personal best. Chase Lee was sixth in the javelin (49.10 meters) and Santella was seventh (47.68m).
Katie Voss was the highest finisher for the Vaquero women, placing third in the 400 hurdles in 65.92.
The 4×400 relay team of Kate Earle, Emily Walker, Voss and Sara Jungersten took fourth in the third-fastest time in school history, 4:02.95.
Kaytee Krivulka was fifth in the hammer, breaking her own school record by 6¼ inches with a heave of 133-11¾. Jungersten was sixth in the 200 (25.77) and seventh in the 100 (12.89).
Earle took sixth in the 100 hurdles (15.74) and the 4×100 relay team was sixth in 49.70.
Cecilia Instebo placed sixth in the 3000 steeplechase in 11:55.18, narrowly beating teammate Kelly Mayer (11:55.60). Mayer was seventh and could get into the So Cal Prelims as an alternate.
