Pirates Compete at APU's Franson Classic

The VC men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Franson Classic at Azusa Pacific University on Saturday with more solid results from multiple athletes in great conditions against some high level university programs. Aubrianna Smith and Ariana Vera headlined accomplishments on the women's side in the 100m and 200m, respectively. Meanwhile Jaedon Rogers continued to excel in the triple jump and Ramiro Mateos made a strong debut in the 3000m steeplechase for the Pirate men.

Vera (Rio Mesa) ran a lifetime best in the 200m to win her heat and finish sixth overall. She broke the tape in 25.18 which is currently the top mark in the Western State Conference this season and sixth-fastest in the CCCAA and No. 4 all-time at Ventura College. She also ran her first 100m race in three years, taking her heat and coming in 12th overall.  Her time of 12.62 in No. 3 in the WSC this year, No. 16 in the state, and No. 15 all-time at VC. 

Meanwhile, Smith (Foothill Tech) also ran a lifetime best in the 100m winning her heat and finishing seventh overall.  Her time of 12.25 is No. 1 in the WSC and No. 6 in the state, moving her to fourth all-time in the VC record books.

Citilali Cortez (Rio Mesa) made her hurdled debut, winning her 100m hurdles heat and finishing 15th overall in 16.09. She is now ranked No. 3 in the conference, No. 10 in the state and No. 12 in Ventura program history. She also ran 1:11.84 in the 400m hurdles finishing second in her heat and eighth in the meet. Her time is second in the WSC and 17th in the CCCAA.

Cassandra O'Reilly was 17th in the 100m hurdles, 14th in the shot put and 17th in the javelin. She ranks No. 1 in the conference in the shot, No. 4 in the state, and is No. 5 in the 100m hurdles in the WSC.

The women's 4x100m relay team of Smith, Vera, Cortez and O'Reilly ran a season best time of 49.21 to place fourth in the meet. They are currently No. 1 in the WSC, No. 6 in the CCCAA and No. 6 all-time for the Pirates.

Charlotte Allison (La Reina) jumped 18' 0.25" in the long jump, a lifetime best, for the top mark in the conference, No. 2 in the state and ninth all-time at VC.

Stina Johansson (Sweden) won silver in the 3000m steeplechase and had the fastest time in the conference and state this year. She was also ninth in the 5k, holding the top mark in the WSC and fifth-best time in the CCCAA.

Jaime Lozano (Oxnard) placed eighth in the hammer and 15th in the discus. She currently holds the fifth and seventh ranked marks, respectively in the conference.

Anissa Cason (Pacifica) ran 16th in the 400m with a lifetime best while Alexandra Sanchez (Rio Mesa) was 17th in the 800m and 16th in the 1500m. Brenda Garcia (Buena) came in 19th in the 1500m. Denise Cardona (Pacifica) threw the 12th-best mark in the hammer.

Rogers led the Pirates' men's team placing sixth in the triple jump, landing second on the year in the WSC. He also joined Ethan Figlio (Rio Mesa), Isaiah Martinez Spence (Oxnard) and Julian Gibson (Pacifica) to run a season-best in the 4x100m relay to place fifth, moving to the No. 5 rank in the conference.

Mateos (Oxnard) was fourth in his 3000m steeplechase debut. He ran 10:05.12 which places him second in the WSC and ninth in the CCCAA.

Martinez Spence was 14th in the 400m with a personal record to rank No. 6 in the conference and Gibson placed 22nd in the 200m. Figlio finished 16th in the 100m and 27th in the 200m, both with lifetime-best times.

Angel Gomez (Buena) ran two personal records in the 200m and 400m, respectively, to finish 25th and 18th in the meet and Isaiah Slagboom (Channel Islands) battled to a 14th place finish in the 5000m with the third-best mark in the WSC. Josh Weinerth (Rio Mesa) finished 24th in the 5k with the ninth-ranked time in the conference this season.

Alex Canales (Fresno) came in 20th in the 1500m and Sahit Jimenez (Santa Paula) came in seventh in his 3k steeplechase debut with the fifth-best time in the conference.

In field events, Mathew Cortez (Oxnard) was 17th in the shot put and 14th in the javelin. Meanwhile, Christian Alejandre (Pacifica) threw 19th in the shot put, 14th in the discus, fifth in the WSC, and seventh in the hammer.

The Pirates next hit the track on Friday April 1 at the WSC Coast meet at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.