April 17, 2009

Orange Empire Conference Finals Underway at Orange Coast College

Complete Results here

COSTA MESA, CA - Under near-perfect racing conditions, the 2009 Orange Empire Conference Track and Field Championships got underway on Friday at Orange Coast College and the host Pirates found the familiar surroundings to their liking.
 
With six events in the books, the OCC women lead the way with 102 points, with Riverside close behind with 87. Golden West (20), Saddleback (14), Santa Ana (7) and Santiago Canyon (4) round out the conference scoring.
 
On the men's side, Riverside (92) holds the lead on the rest of the pack, with OCC (55), Saddleback (40), Golden West (21), Santa Ana (17) and Fullerton (9) trailing the Tigers.
 
The Pirate women showed depth in each of the six finals events, none more so than the 10,000, where Cassie Mitchell (38 minutes, 42.86 seconds), Kristen Simek (38:43.42), Margaret McDuffee (39:19.40) and Hillary Labelle (39:56.11) highlighted a 1-2-3-4 OCC finish.
 
In the pole vault, Audrey Crouse (pictured left) tied a school record and OEC record by clearing 11 feet, 6 inches to take the OEC title. Crouse's mark tied former Pirate standout Jennifer Finaldi, who cleared 11-6 back in 2002 and again in 2003.
 
Other point producers for the Pirates include Jane Kerner in the 10,000 (6th, 40:41.79) and the 3,000 steeplechase (4th, 12:15.78), Andrea Guerra in the 3,000 steeplechase (3rd, 11:57.74), Meghan Sanchez in the 3,000 steeplechase (12:20.6), Lisa Dolan in the pole vault (4th, 10-6), Jessica Clees in the pole vault (5th, 10-0), Jacquelynn Swank in the pole vault (6th, 9-6), Jade Leblanc in the pole vault (7th, 9-6), Liana Fuentes in the long jump (3rd, 16-7) and javelin (3rd, 111-0), Isabelle Nguyen in the long jump (7th, 15-6 1/2), Riki delaPuente in the shot put (5th, 35-9), Danielle Morton in the javelin (2nd, 118-4) and Brianna Vanderwal in the javelin (4th, 108-11 3/4).
 
For the Tigers, OEC championships were claimed by Tianna Wills and Lindsay Cano in the long jump (17-7 1/4 each), Tanya Martinez in the shot put (36-9 1/4) and Karee Nordby in the javelin (126-4 3/4).
 
Saddleback's Kelley Breen claimed the conference top spot in the 3,000 steeplechase with a winning time of 11:36.73.
 
On the men's side, OCC's lone conference championship on Friday came in the shot put, where Eric Grunbaum topped the field with a throw of 50-5 3/4, nearly eight feet further than runner-up Ryan Gleason of Santa (42-7 3/4).
 
Other point producers for the Pirates include Russell Westphal in the 10,000 (2nd, 33:06.46), Ragan Grego in the 3,000 steeplechase (2nd, 10:12.35), Garrett Fuerte in the 3,000 steeplechase (4th, 10:20.3), Kirk Hunter in the 3,000 steeplechase (8th, 10:35.9), Mitchell Giles in the high jump (8th, 5-8), Donovan Toban in the long jump (4th, 23-2 3/4), Stephen Ruby in the shot put (7th, 42-1 3/4) and the javelin (2nd, 192-5 1/4) and Brian Norton in the javelin (3rd, 165-2 1/2).
 
Other OEC champions crowned on Friday include Saddleback's Matt Van Dyke in the 10,000 (33:02.21), Riverside Daniel Cooper in the 3,000 steeplechase (10:05.25), Riverside's Wayne West in the high jump (6-8), Riverside's Giorgio Bryant in the long jump (24-1 3/4) and Saddleback's Ray Lian in the javelin (194-2 1/4).
 
Finals for all remaining events will take place on Friday at Orange Coast College.

Article provided by Tony Altobelli, Orange Coast College Sports Information Director

Picture courtesy of Hank Schellingerhout