Men's Track Takes 3rd at Coast Classic
On the strength of a gold-medal performance in the 4x100m relay, and on three individual golds on the day, the Ventura College men's track and field team placed third of 12 teams in the Orange Coast Classic in Costa Mesa Friday. Ja'Varien Salter's won in the 100m and claimed a dead-heat silver in the 200m, Henry Fulk claimed the gold in the 5000m and Mateo Chavez finished first in the shot put to pace the Pirates. Jessica Davison won bronze in the 100m hurdles to lead the VC women.
On the strength of a gold-medal performance in the 4x100m relay, and on three individual golds on the day, the Ventura College men's track and field team placed third of 12 teams in the Orange Coast Classic in Costa Mesa Friday. Ja'Varien Salter's won in the 100m and claimed a dead-heat silver in the 200m, Henry Fulk claimed the gold in the 5000m and Mateo Chavez finished first in the shot put to pace the Pirates. Jessica Davison won bronze in the 100m hurdles to lead the VC women.
The Pirates totaled 96 points on the day to finish third as a team, behind Orange Coast at 190 and Saddleback with 108. East Los Angeles was fourth with 85 points.
Salter broke the tape in 10.74 in the 100m, posting the 13th-ranked mark in the 3C2A this season. In the 200m, he ran a 21.63 to claim silver in the dead heat timed to the nearest thousandth of a second, posting the ninth-best time in the state.
Fulk ran the 5000m in 16:38 to win gold by a 23-second margin and he also came in fifth in the 1500m. Chavez, meanwhile, had a throw of 12.72m in the shot put to finish first and also placed second in the discus.
Ventura's 4x100m relay team of Makaio Thompson, Max Daniel, Salter and Jeremiah Penny carried the baton around the track in 41.83 to win the gold with the seventh-best time in VC history and the eighth-ranked time in the state in 2026.
Julian Arenas ran third in the 300m steeplechase and Ty Brown finished fourth in the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Daniel came in fifth in the 100m and sixth in the 200m while Penny was fifth in the 200m and sixth in the 100m. Thompson earned points in eighth place in the 100m. Aaron Giron placed seventh in the 110m hurdles and Caleb Strencha was fifth in the high jump.
Davison led the VC women's performance with a bronze medal in the 100m hurdles while Leia Ludy was fourth in the 100m hurdles and eighth in the 100m. Jada Dubose and Avery Wells came in sixth and seventh in the long jump, respectively.
VC next will host the Western State Conference North meet on Friday Mar. 20 beginning at 11:00 am at the Sportsplex.