Panther Men Start Strong at MPC Premiere Meet
The sting of coming up just seven points short of a top three trophy at last spring's Northern California Championship has fueled the preparation of this year's men's track and field squad and on Saturday at the MPC Premiere Meet, the Panthers showed they will be chasing that trophy again in May. With a balanced attack in all event areas, the Panthers pickedup up two event wins, a CCCAA leading mark in the 3000 meters, and a State "B" in the high jump. With a group of experienced sophomores and excited freshmen, the Panthers will look to compete with much larger Northern California community college programs this season.
Freshman Ethan Lavina debuted nicely picking up an unexpected State "B" in the high jump clearning 1.87m (6-1.50) in his first collegiate high jump competition. Lavina also posted marks of 13.25m (43-5.75) in the triple jump, very close to his lifetime best, and 6.30m (20-8) in the long jump. Just ahead of him in the long jump was sophomore Elijah Washington, who started his final season with the Panthers right where he left off with a third place mark of 6.44m (21-1.50). Washington also posted a lifetime bes tin the high jump to the start the year clearing 1.77m (5-9.75). Freshman Javin Nair lead in the pole vault clearing 3.50m (11-5.75) to start his Hartnell career.
In the sprints, sophomore Marco Espinoza-Morado ran a personal best in the 100 meters clocking 11.23 and returned to track to dip under the 23 second barrier for just the second time in his career at 22.84. Javin Nair, Joshua Shimoda, and Ramon Duran all clocked 11.71 in their 100 meter races. Duran was Hartnell's top 400mIH last spring and kicked off his sophomore campaign with a sub 60 clocking at 59.69. Freshman redshirt Bernabe Munoz debuted well in the same event at 63.84.
Freshman sensation Moises Benito brings in exceptional high school bests of 4:17 in the 1600 meter and 9:12 in the 3000 meters. Benito lead much of the his first 1500 meters as a Panther before finishing second in 4:06.26, equivalent to 4:23 for 1600 meters. A healthy Ricky Diaz III was third in 4:08.92 and freshman Liam Patttison debuted at 4:14.53 for the metric mile. Benito doubled back in the 3000 meters and with Norcal cross country champion Esteban Deniz setting the pace, the pair produced the top two marks in the state and second and third fastest all-time in Hartnell history. Deniz would take the narrow victory in 8:34.58 with Benito a half stride behind in 8:34.96. Benito's mark converts to 9:09 for 3200, putting him ahead of pace compared to last year and with a shot at the USA U20 Championship standard of 14:40 for 5000 meters. Joshua Riley scored significant personal best at 9:01.18, with Diaz III right behind at 9:02.40 for the double, and freshman Jesse Blanco less than a second back in 9:03.19.
One of the biggest movers for the Panthers as a sophomore may be Hollister grad Orlando Dorado. Having learned from last year's top hammer thrower Ashton Headley, Dorado emerged as the Panther leader in the event in the first competition. Dorado uncorked a personal best 43.94 (144-2), over two meters further than he thew the 16 lb hammer last year. He also lead the squad in the discus with a first meet mark of 33.48 (109-10), which was also a personal best. Sophomore Edgar Martinez reached the 40 meter mark in the hammer for the first time in his career with a toss of 40.15m (131-9) as he attempts to join Dorado in the Norcal final in the event come May.
The Panthers will return to action on Friday-Saturday, February 24-25 at the Chabot Opener in the Hayward, California. The men's and women's hammer throw will be contested at 12:00pm on Friday, February 24th with the rest of the event schedule taking place starting at 10:00am on Saturday.
