Panther Men Win Conference Title

Last year's Hartnell men's track & field returned to action after the pandemic with a close four point conference victory over rival De Anza College. This year's conference championship was not nearly as close as the Panthers tallied 221.50 points to De Anza's 183 points to repeat as the team champion. Lead by individual victories by Esteban Deniz, Zachary Sims, and Ethan Lavina, the Panthers racked up their 39th team title in the history of the program. The next closest team only has six team titles. 

Sophomore Esteban Deniz enjoyed one of his best meets as a Panther winning the 800 meters (1:57.54), 1500 meters (3:58.63) and 5000 meters (15:35.12). In the 1500 meters, teammates Moises Benito (4:00.05) and Ricky Diaz III (4:02.45) helped sweep the top 3 overall netting the Panthers 24 points in that event. In addition, Josh Riley and Jose Velazquez added sixth and seventh place finishes. Over 800 meters, Ricky Diaz III was third (1:59.98) with Jose Velazquez and Kaimana Cantere taking sixth and eighth. Jesee Blanco placed eighth in the 5000 meters to pick up a single point for the Panthers. In the 3000 meter steeplechase, Kaimana Cantere was second in a lifetime best 10:03.12 and Daniel Pantoja third at 10:07.44. Maximo Puga was fifth and freshman Matthew Santos was seventh. 

Zachary Sims won an exciting javelin competition on his final throw with a mark of 56.16m. This established a new grass runway personal best. Ramon Duran added a fifth place finish with a personal best 44.21m throw. Freshman Joshua Shimoda was eighth in a lifetime best 40.59m. 

In the triple jump, freshman Ethan Lavina won his first conference title on his first jump of 13.77m. Zachary Sims was second in 13.17m. The pair also scored in the high jump with Lavina taking third at 1.85m. 

Orlando Dorado and Edgar Martinez picked up seventh and eighth place points in the discus with Martinez throwing a lifetime best 33.87m. 

In the sprints, the Panther 4x100 relay team of Javin Nair, Marco Espinoza-Morado, Fabian Rodriguez, and Zachary Sims ran a season best 43.23 to take fourth. Espinoza-Morado was the surprise third place finisher in the 100 meters at a lifetime best 11.00 and sixth in the 200 meters at 22.37. Ramon Duran lead in both hurdles with a sixth place finish in the 110mHH (17.15) and 400mIH (58.27). Zachary Sims was seventh and Bernabe Munoz eighth in the 110mHH. Munoz would run a lifetime best 59.96 in the 400mIH to get sixth place. 

The Panthers will head into the Northern California Trials on Friday, May 5th at Yuba College in Marysville, CA with the goal of placing higher than last year's seventh place finish.