Pirates collect victories

Bryce Alderton

The Orange Empire Conference track and field finals might be three

weeks away, but the Orange Coast College men’s and women’s teams sent

a message Friday that they are rounding into shape at the most

opportune time.

Both Coast teams claimed victories in a three-team conference meet

Friday at OCC, each barely edging Riverside while Fullerton finished

a distant third.

Sophomore distance runner Ava Jones tripled to lead the Coast

women (79.5 points), who finish 6-0 in conference. Riverside (72.5

points) entered the meet undefeated.

Freshman Humberto Rojas, an Estancia High product, also tripled to

lead the Coast men to 84 points, eight ahead of Riverside.

The Coast women, the defending state champions, led by five points

heading into the 1,600-meter relay, which Riverside had a slight lead

heading into the final 400 meters.

That’s when Coast’s Gegi Van De Walker took over. Van De Walker, a

former standout at Costa Mesa High, narrowed the gap on Riverside’s

Latisha Bush along the back stretch and used the final 100 meters to

edge the Riverside runner by a little more than a second. Annie

Garton, who claimed the 400 hurdles (1:07.5), Elda Hernandez and

Hanni Geider participated in Coast’s winning 1,600 relay (4:00.3).

Van De Walker wasn’t concerned about making up the deficit during

the final leg.

“It’s better to pass at the end, so you will have momentum going

to catch up,” said Van De Walker, who graduated from Cal Poly San

Luis Obispo last June. “I don’t think about that much when I am

running.”

Tayler Cusick won the triple jump (34-3 1/2) while Jenny Thompson

claimed the pole vault (10-0) for Coast’s other victories. Jones won

the 800, 1,500 and 3,000.

The Coast men held a five-point advantage heading into the final

two events -- the triple jump and the discus throw -- with daylight

fleeting.

Coast’s Jeremy Wooldridge leaped 44 feet, 11 3/4 inches to claim

the triple jump, while teammate Kevin Porter finished second (44-7).

Derek Davis placed third in the discus (130-0) to give Coast an added

two points.

Wooldridge competed in his second meet this season after nursing a

sore hamstring. He also ran a leg in the 400-meter relay and finished

fourth in the high jump.

“It’s great it worked out as it did,” Wooldridge said of the

team’s victory. “I tried to give 102%, try my hardest and have fun.”

Blake Dorman’s final throw in the shot put turned out to be the

winning toss (46-6 1/2), eclipsing the mark of Riverside’s Dustin

Eshelman (44-11).

Kevin Porter (6-2 in the high jump) and Tim Burnham in the pole

vault (14-0) also earned victories for the Coast men, who improved to

5-1 against conference foes. Riverside fell to 4-2.

“The guys showed some fight today,” OCC Coach John Knox said.

Rojas, like Jones, won the 800, 1,500 and 3,000, displaying

Coast’s control of distance events.

Patrick Fitzgerald placed second in both the 800 and 1,500 while

Irwin Salas, another Costa Mesa High product, finished third in each

event.

Ludi Valdez placed second in both the 800 and 3,000 on the women’s

side. Coast women took the top four spots in the 1,500.

“On the men’s side, we knew the 100 and 200 would be difficult to

win, so we moved more kids into the longer races and try to sneak

some points in the hurdles and field events,” Knox said. “The triple

jump is a prime example. We went one-two.”

Van De Walker, who is taking classes at OCC that will help her

become an emergency medical technician, placed second in the 200, 400

and triple jump to go with a third in the 100 hurdles.

“I’m proud to say we won as a team,” Knox told his teams huddled

around him after the meet.

Coast will host a five-way nonconference meet Friday before

preparing for the OEC preliminaries April 20.