Three weeks ago Sara McDonald broke the school record in the 400m (56.40) sprint at the Orange Coast Classic. On Friday she bettered that record-breaking time (.53 improvement) again by running 55.87in a blazing fast heat. Although she placed 4th overall, she holds the 5th fastest time in the state and has the leading time for all freshman. Yes, the WSC holds 4 of the top 5 spots in the state for the 400m! With exhausted legs, trembling nerves, and less than 1 hour of recovery, McDonald slashed her personal best in the 200m. She ran 24.80 (.72 improvement!) to place 2nd and topple another school record. Sara is on FIRE!
Kayla Lindquist walked onto the track today with her eye on the conference title for the high jump. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy since she shared the top mark with Justice Shank of Glendale College. Lindquist entered at 4’9”. As she cleared each height, the bar was raised 2 inches. Lindquist cleared each height on her first attempt. Again, at 5’5”, she cleared the bar on her first attempt and set a new personal best to win the event! Lindquist also improved 8” in the javelin to place 8th with a toss of 96’ 9”.
The 5000m is a 12 ½ lap race that tests the athletes’ endurance, patience, strength and speed. Megan McNally shined in all aspects! As one of the team leaders last season for the women’s cross country team, McNally has proven that her hard work and dedication to the sport has paid off. She ran smart today! McNally placed herself in the top 4 during the whole race. When Grace Zamudio of Glendale College kicked at about 250m to go, McNally stayed right behind her. At about 100m to go, coming off the last turn, McNally kicked it into high gear to pass the tiring Zamudio and finish 2nd (18:32). Teammate Alexis Pichardo ran smart and strong also to finish 6th (18:48).
Bailey Schentrup is another shining star for the Raiders. On Wednesday, she was chosen as the female scholar-athlete for Moorpark College based on her amazing athletic achievements and 4.0 GPA. Schentrup, who jumps, sprints, and runs on both relays for the Raiders knows she can do it all! Oh, she is pretty good at the hurdles and shot put too! Schentrup started her day with the triple jump. In the middle of finals she realized the 4x100m relay was about to start – right when her name was being called for her 5th attempt in the triple jump! She decided to give it her all and made the best of that attempt. Instead of waiting around to hear how far she jumped, she sprinted to the start of the 3rd leg and chose not the waste her time changing out of her jump spikes and into her sprint spikes! Schentrup ended up placing 5th in the triple jump and helping her team (Nielsen, Mathieson, Schentrup, McDonald) to an 9th place finish in the Relay (50.50). Schentrup also ran in the open 400m and then helped improve the season best for the 4x400m relay by 8 seconds. The 4:06 time set by Schentrup, Kelly, Wentworth and McDonald placed them 8th overall in conference.
Emily Kelly finished 4th in the 1500m (4:52).
Highlights for the men Friday included a personal best by Shawn Tedjasaputra in the 400m who finished 4th in a time of 49.51 and a 3rd place in the hammer throw for Austin “Dewey” Benson (148’ 10.5”). Ed Ruhnke threw 161’ 5” in the javelin for a 5th place finish. Both the 4x100m relay team (Taghavi, Edwards, Lopez, Tedjasaputra) and 4x400m relay team (Taghavi, Kassem, Edwards, Tedjasaputra) finished 7th (42.64 and 3:22,respectively).
Next week, the Raiders head to San Diego Mesa College Saturday, May 5th to test their skills at the Southern California Regional Prelims. The following athletes have qualified:
WOMEN MEN
Emily Kelly – 1500m Niko Althaus – Pole Vault
Ashley Hamilton – 3,000m Steeple Austin “Dewey” Benson – Shot Put, Hammer
Kayla Lindquist – High Jump Rodger Mantor – Pole Vault
Sara McDonald 200, 400 Patrick Smith – Shot Put
Megan McNally – 5K, 10K Shawn Tedjasaputra – 400m
Alexis Pichardo – 5K, 10K 4×100 (Taghavi, Edwards, Lopez, Tedjasaputra)
Nicole Rietveld – 3,000m Steeple 4×400 (Taghavi, Kassem/Effarah,
Bailey Schentrup – Long Jump, Triple Jump Edwards,Tedjasaputra)
Clarissa Wentworth – 3,000m Steeple