The slogan for the Mt. Sac Invitational and Relays is “Where the World’s Greatest Athletes Compete.” Many Southern California and some of the top Northern California teams register for the exciting meet every year. Only 27 runners and 18 field event athletes are invited to compete in each event. The Moorpark College Raider track & field team represented themselves well in the Friday afternoon event at Mt. San Antonio College.
The Lady Raiders women’s distance squad was absolutely amazing! The highlight of the day came from freshman, Megan McNally (above left). The long distance runners typically compete in the 3,000m early in the season. On Friday, Megan ran her first 5K on the track. She started the race as the early leader and then shared the top spot with athletes from Glendale and Southwestern Colleges. With one lap to go Megan and Reyes of Southwestern broke off from Martinez of Glendale College. They battled it out for the last 100m but Megan’s strong kick at the end gave her a 1-second edge over Reyes to win the 12-lap race in 18:08. Teammate and sophomore Alexis Pichardo (18:40) shaved 10 seconds off her best time in the 5K from last year to place 8th in the race.
Emily Kelly started her day with a 2nd place in the 1500m (4:52) and then later ran the 800m in 2:21 to finish 6th. Teammate Nicole Rietveld was only seconds behind Kelly in both races. Rietveld finished the 1500m in 4:55 for a 5th place finish and ran the 800m in 2:24 to finish 15th.
Three athletes competed in the 3000m steeplechase. Clarissa Wentworth finished 3rd in a time of 12:01 while Ashley Hamilton ran 12:40 for a 7th place finish. Martin Arreola ran 10:23 to place 13th in the men’s race. Sara McDonald finished 5th in the 400m (57.00) while Patrick Smith (above right) placed 3rd in the shot put (48′ 7.5″).
The Moorpark Raiders track & field team starts championship season next week. The Raiders will travel to Santa Barbara to compete in the WSC Preliminaries Friday, April 20th. Some events, such as the pole vault, long jump, shot put, discus and the 10,000m will be contested as finals at Santa Barbara City College. The remainder of the events will be held at Moorpark College on Friday, April 27th.