On a challenging day of heat and wind, SBCC qualified an all-time best 15 athletes on Saturday in the Southern Cal Track & Field Prelims at Antelope Valley in Lancaster.
Temperatures were in the mid-80s with winds exceeding 25 mph. Eight women and seven men advanced to next Saturday’s So Cal Championships, which will also be held at Antelope Valley.
The Vaqueros more than doubled their record of seven qualifiers from last year.
Emily Bernath had the fastest time out of 27 runners in the women’s 800, finishing in 2:18.47.
Kodie Hebert was the first qualifier of the day for the Vaqueros, throwing the javelin 32.35 meters to take 10th place. In the throws and jumps, the top 12 out of 27 advanced to the finals.
Kaytee Krivulka qualified in two events — taking 5th in the discus with a PR of 36.92m (121 feet, 1¼ inches) and 7th in the hammer (43.37m). Kathryn Rucker tied for first in the women’s high jump at 1.58m.
The 4 x 100 relay unit of Sara Jungersten, Emily Walker, Kalina Rock and Samantha Wikmark qualified in eighth place with a 49.28 clocking. In the relays and running events, the top nine qualify for finals.
Walker also qualified in the 400, taking ninth in her second-fastest time of the year, 59.00.
In the men’s 400 hurdles, Tristan Lake was second in his heat and fourth overall in 53.92.
Cliff Lekas took fifth in the 400 meters in 48.94, his second-fastest time ever. Lekas also qualified in the 4 x 400 relay.
Aaron Mateski was fifth in the javelin at 54.44 meters.
The Vaqueros ended the meet in strong fashion with both 4 x 400 relay teams qualifying. The men’s squad, consisting of Lake, James Herb, Geoff Brown and Lekas was seventh in 3:20.01 while the women’s team of Jungersten, Amy Connor, Rock and Walker was eighth in 4:07.14.
