By Shanna Shurnaman |Staff Writer|
The CSUSB women’s track and field team competed at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Conference Championships from May 4 to May 7.
All sprints, relay and field events competed in prelims while all distance events went straight to finals.
In the 3000-meter Steeplechase, Laura Aceves ran a new personal record (PR) of 10:37.54, earning herself a second place finish and a spot at Nationals.
“I was excited and a little bit nervous but confident of myself,” said Aceves.
“I knew I would have good competition that would help me to PR,” continued Aceves.
Aceves is ranked 16th in the nation.
The top 20 to 25 get to go to the national meet, depending on the times.
“My goal for conference was to be in the top three at the steeplechase and help my team add more points,” said Aceves.
The deadline to make nationals is on May 19.
Following Aceves was her teammate Cynthia Rivera, who finished strong with an 11:45.09.
In the 100-meter prelims, Coyotes Sinclair Watson and Taylor Matthews represented CSUSB.
Watson qualified for finals with a time of 12.31-seconds.
In finals, Watson finished in seventh with a 12.48-seconds.
In the 200-meters prelims, Watson finished first in her hea, earning an automatic qualification for the finals.
In the 200-meter finals, Watson ran a personal best of 25.17-seconds.
In the 1600-meter relay, Coyotes Michelle Pineda, Rhais’sa Baker, Jalyn McDermott and Matthews ran a new PR of 4:12.02.
“My goal going into the four by four [1600-meter relay] was to run the best I’ve ever ran in any track meet because CCAA is nothing to experiment with,” said Baker.
“You go in, run your hardest, and don’t give up,” added Baker.
In the 1500-meter prelims, Coyotes Patricia “Patty” Cortez and Soleil Hall earned their spot in finals.
On finals, Cortez came in with a fifth place finish at a time of 4:37.25 and her teammate Hall followed closely behind at 4:47.99.
In the 5000-meter run, four coyotes fought to earn points for their team.
Cortez finished first for her team and fourth place overall with a time of 17:35.43, just five seconds behind her PR.
Following Cortez was her teammate Hall in 12th with a time of 18:11.
The other two Coyotes to finish the 5000-meters were Evelyn De La Luz who finished in 18:44 and Alyssa Casillas with 19:55.04.
In the 10000-meters, De La Luz came back with a 13th place finish and a season best of 38:34.39.
Her teammate Cara Bonafede finished not too far behind with a new PR of 40:43.73.
In field events, Coyote Stacey Vanderpool battled it out in pole vault, finishing in 10th, vaulting a height of 3.12 meters.
In hammer, Simone Everett threw an amazing 40.28-meters, earning a new PR.
Everett also competed in shot put where her farthest throw was 10.68-meters and in discus, she threw 33.47-meters.
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