The Lancers Track and Field team had a busy and surprisingly underwhelming week at Cerritos College Tuesday and Saturday, as the South Coast Conference (SCC) Prelims and Championship meets transpired.
Out of the 12 colleges in the SCC, six schools advanced to the championships. Out of the 21 events scored at Cerritos, PCC ended in 5th place out of the six schools participating, in both the men’s and women’s rankings.
“We did well…we always wanna do better” said head coach Innocence Egbunike. “We did as well as we could do that day.”
Lancers star athlete this season, Jared Whitt, did as best he could placing 5th in the Men’s Long Jump Finals and 4th in Men’s Triple Jump Finals. Whitt also assisted his teammates in the 4×100 meter relay, coming in 4th place, and the 4×400 meter relay, coming in 5th place. Meanwhile, fellow freshman Asher Smith and sophomore Kessa Rychlick ran hard in their prelim heats to secure spots for the Lancers in the finals.
Smith secured 5th place in the men’s 100 meter dash and just made 8th in the 200 meter dash.
Rychlick finished 6th in the women’s 100 meter hurdles, contributed to winning 4th place in the women’s 4×100, and despite a Mt. Sac hurdler falling into her lane, sprinted into 4th place in the women’s 400 meter hurdles.
“She avoided it,” witness and Cerritos Falcon’s head coach Christopher Richardson said. “She didn’t let it rile her up and she finished strong.”
The Falcon’s not only hosted the event on their campus, but also won the entire event, as well. Falcon freshman Alia Scott soared through the meet landing first place in the women’s 100 meter and 400 meter hurdles and then helped her teammates win first in the women’s 4×400 meter relay. Cerritos also nabbed first place in women’s 100, 200, 400, and 800 meter dash, long jump, triple jump, shot put, and heptathlon.
“Cerritos performed with fire,” said onlooker Daisy Barrios. “Especially the women, it felt as though their feet never touched the ground.”
“I thought everybody did well,” said Richardson. “I think the big thing was composure, being relaxed, not letting the moment or the pressure of the competition become stressful. No one faltered or fell short.”
Despite the final score, PCC will compete in the Southern California Prelims and Championships held at Riverside City College on Saturday, May 4.
“We’re still in a qualifying phase,” said Egbunike. “[The Lancers] did well during the season, so hopefully when we go to the Southern California Prelims they will continue to move forward to finals.”
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