Team sprints to perfect record, 4-0

by Dimitri Watson
Staff Writer

The University of La Verne had its second Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference quad track meet at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on La Verne's new track. The Leopards came into the meet 2-0 in conference,for both the men and women.

Results from the women's field events were positive, as sophomore Lori Waters took first in the shot put and freshman Ellen Soakai took second. Soakai also took second in the discus as Waters finished third.

Other players were hard at work, with Waters taking second in the hammer as freshman Gerlaine Kiamco finished in third. Junior Crystal Marks won the Javelin and the pole vault.

"I didn't compete to the best of my ability. I'm healthy and I felt good but home meets to me feel too much like practice. This makes it hard for me to get completely focused and get in that competing mode," said Waters who qualified for nationals in the first conference meet.

In the jumps, junior Liz Lucsko finished first, while teammate Christy DeLapp took second place. Lucsko also won the long jump and junior Adriana Ramirez finished second for the Leopards.

In the triple jump event, freshman Lakia Sims pulled off the victory as Lucsko finished second.

In the running events junior Dejuana Satchell won the 100 meters, while junior Amber Clayton grabbed second. Satchell also took second place in the 200 meters.

The 4x100-relay team, consisting of Sims, Clayton, Ash and Satchell, came in first from behind.

Lucsko finished first in the 100-meter hurdles and Sims took second. Sims also grabbed a first in the 400-meter hurdles.

"I don't feel like I'm ready for extreme competition because we started our intense workouts later than usual, due to the fact our track was being worked on. The men have a good chance of winning conference and the women will have to work hard to beat Claremont, to win conference. With the new NCAA rules I feel Claremont has the edge on us right now," said Lucsko.

Senior Monica Martinez finished first in the steeplechase for the Leopards, while junior Leti Arroyo took first in both the 800 meters and 1500 meters.

For the men's events junior Brandon Tedrow won the shot while sophomore Ryan Cairney finished in third. Tedrow also took second place in pole vault as freshman Jermiah Fellows finished in third.

Tedrow placed first in the discus, as Cairney placed third. Tedrow also grabbed second for the Leopards, while Cairney finished in second place in the hammer throw.

Junior John Horton took firsts in both the long jump and the triple jump and senior Jason Riley also grabbed a first place in the high jump for the Leopards.

In the sprints sophomore Eric Thomas finished first in the 200 meters. Thomas also finished first in the 400 meters, while sophomore Brandon Jones finished second for the Leopards.

"I feel like I'm running well and I'm getting to where I need to be. I had higher expectations on what I should be doing by this point but I have improved since last year. I expect myself and others to start to step it up now," Thomas said.

Junior Will Lawson won the 100 meters. Lawson also won the 400-meter hurdles, and senior Adrian Bean came in third.

The Leopards won both relays the 4x100, which consisted of Bean, Thomas, Watson and Lawson. The second victorious relay was the 4x400 team, which consisted of Jones, Horton, Raymond and Lawson.

Freshman Kelly Wood won the 5000 meters. Wood also won the 3000-meter steeplechase. Junior Faisal Javed finished second.

"I'm really excited about our team aspect because our men and women are 4-0 in conference. The focus has been on the team the last two weeks. The next four weeks our focus on individuals working on their best events, trying to work on times that will make them competitive for conference finals," said Pat Widolff head coach of the track team.

The next track meet is invitationals meet at 10:30 tomorrow, at Occidental College.