Orange Coast's Maizland and Foley earn state titles for Pirates

NORWALK - The impressive list of state champions throughout the history of the Orange Coast College track and field program has just grown by two, thanks to the impressive performances of Barron Maizland and Meghan Foley at last weekend's California Community College Athletic Association State Meet, held at Cerritos College.

Maizland, a sophomore distance specialist from Foothill High School, etched his name in the CCCAA history books by winning the state title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9 minutes, 18.95 seconds, nearly four seconds ahead of the next-fastest runner, Chabot College's Scott Trummer (9:22.85). The week before, Maizland set a new school record in the same event after winning the Southern California Regional Meet with a time of 9:16.71. OCC teammate Zach Ellis finished fifth in the race with a solid time of 9:38.85, while Jace Hinesly placed eighth with a 9:48.28.

The depth of the men's squad enabled the Pirates to finish ninth as a team in state. "We had every competitor score at least a point for us and that was great to see," OCC head coach John Knox said. "A top-10 finish in the state is always something to be proud of."

Foley -- a sophomore standout from Edison HS -- set the pace around the Cerritos College track and won the state title with a time of 4:37.08, holding off Cuesta's Devon Kelsey (4:39.24) and Butte's Ayla Granados (4:40.18) down the stretch. In addition to her winning time in the 1,500, Foley also earned a point in the 800, finishing eighth with a time of 2:18.0.

In the men's decathlon, Andrew Cruikshank -- OCC's Male Athlete of the Year -- used victories in the discus (141 feet, 5 inches) and shot put (43-3 1/4) to earn a third-place point total of 6,671, trailing only Mt. San Antonio's Tomek Czerwinski (6,888) and Monterey's Nicholas Pfeiffer (6,675).

Another distance specialist, sophomore Analicia Silva, earned the silver in the women's 10,000 after placing second with a time of 38:24.6, just six seconds off of the winning time set by Southwestern's Ayded Reyes (38:19.15).

Much like Foley, also qualifying for two events was sophomore Patrick Douglas, who finished fifth in the 1,500 (3:52.73) and eighth in the 5,000 (14:59.81). Teammate Hugo Gutierrez joined Douglas in the 1,500 and placed 11th with a time of 4:00.01.

In the men's 10,000, Austin Little earned a spot at the State Meet and finished eighth overall with a time of 32:14.89.

Grace Adams-Handy, a Pirate state qualifier in the women's 3,000 steeplechase, finished sixth with a time of 11:30.27.

Riverside College won the men's team title, while Laney College took the women's team title.