Pirates Perform Well in Conference Tune-up

In their final track meet before the Western State Conference Championships, the Pirates' men's and women's track teams competed in the Easter Open hosted by Santa Barbara City College. The meet served as the last chance for members of the track team to obtain qualifying standards or improve their overall conference rankings. A skeleton crew competed allowing tracksters with good conference standing an opportunity to rest up for the finals.

On the women's side, Miranda Rodriguez finished second in the 100 meters but was ranked as the top collegiate competitor for the college section win. Karen Reyes finished fifth overall in the 400 hurdles and continues to learn the event, running the eighth fastest mark in school history. Dejahnae Brown tied for first in the high but lost the placing on fewer misses. Aiyana Brown tied for the second-best clearance in the same event but like her sister, was pushed back to fourth on the count back.

The men had a good day on the track as conference leader Tristan Griffith stormed to an early lead in the 400 meters and was never threatened as he won by almost two seconds. Teammate Jason Mesa won his third 100 meter race of the season and returned to a second place finish in the 200 meters.

"This meet gave the staff an opportunity to make final adjustments to our final event assignments for the (conference) championships next week," said head coach Tony Veney.

The WSC Prelims will be held Friday April 21 on the campus of Bakersfield College. The field and track events both starting at 12:00 pm.