Carreras Powers Panthers to Wildcat Cup Victory

Sophomore Aaliyah Carreras won two events and produced all-time best marks in both at the Wildcat Cup.
Sophomore Aaliyah Carreras won two events and produced all-time best marks in both at the Wildcat Cup.
Photos Results
March 19, 2023

The Hartnell women have quietly put together one of the most impressive track and field seasons to date. They were victorious to start the year at the Monterey Peninsula Premiere Meet even with NCAA DII program CSU Monterey Bay in attendance. Then the women won the Chabot Opener again with another NCAA DII program CSU East Bay competing as well. In this year's edition of the Wildcat Cup, the Panthers would face powerhouse NCAA DII CSU Chico. The community colleges in attendance at the Wildcat Cup all have ties to CSU Chico with the Wildcats being given an opportunity to compete just down the road. Sprinter Aaliyah Carreras beat all challengers from all levels in her season debut in both the 100m and 200m as the Panther women won the cup for the second year in a row. The Panthers also had Isabella Reimann and Katelyn Strader as overall event winner against all levels.

Carreras, who prepped at Marina High School and transferred from Monterey Peninsula College after a year and a half, powered down the homestretch in the 100m to the second fastest time in Hartnell history at 12.12. That mark instantly made her the top mark in the Coast Conference, Northern California and top five in the state. The next closest competitor was 12.59, a sprinter from Chico State. She returned to the track later in the schedule to win the 200 meters in the third fastest time ever in Hartnell history at 25.03. That time was victorious by a margin of 0.52. She will look to lower the 100m record of 12.01 set by Ashley Jones and 200m record of 24.62 also held by Jones. 

Running second leg on the 4x100 relay, Carreras helped the team of Clodine Tabernilla, Roxana Ruelas, and Marilyn Macias run 49.61 and nearly steal the event from Norcal #2 Modesto Junior College. The time is the eighth fastest in Hartnell history and positions the Panthers in third in the region. Carreras, Ruelas, Macias and freshman Dominique Cervantes-Samudio teammed up in the 4x400 relay to achieve the State "B" mark with their 4:11.16. That puts the quartet at the top of the Norcal rankings heading in to the end of March.

Isabella Reimann won the hammer competition with her second 160 foot mark this season. She won the hammer by 10 feet with 48.97/160-8. Katelyn Strader picked up a State "A" in her discus victory throw of 39.38/129-2. That makes Strader the top thrower in the region in the discus. Right behind her is Reimann now with her second place toss of 37.50m/123-0. The duo are ranked in the top 2 in both the hammer and discus. Also competing well in both the hammer and discus was freshman Grace Padron. She had two lifetime bests of 32.47m/107-5 in the discus and 36.45m/119-7 in the hammer. 

Roxana Ruelas made her debut in the 400mLH with a 68.90 which puts her third in the region. Dominique Cervantes-Samudio lowered her open 400m to 64.98 before running the relay. Sofia Camacho ran 4:42.63, her second best 1500m of the season, to place second. She was also second in the 800m (2:22.13). Andrea Villegas was not far behind in both at 4:53.42 and 2:23.66. Ashley Ochoa put together a 1500/400mH combo of 5:05.78 and 1:18.06 to prepare for her first 3k steeplechase. Ilianna Martinez debuted in the 5000m (22:58.97). Freshman Daisy Macias nearly ran her first 100mH race under 17 seconds with a lifetime best 17.01 and also debuted in the 400mLH (1:13.71). She also cleared 1.45m/4-9 in the high jump showing potential for the heptathlon. 

Lorraine Mankins cleared 10 feet in the pole vault on Friday in addition to competing the heptathlon where she scored 3217 points in her first seven event competition ever. She lowered her lifetime best in the 100mh to 16.49 and learned 1.34m in the high jump for the first time. Clodine Tabernilla tallied a score of 3164 points with personal bests in the 100mh, 200m and shot put. Mercedes Rosales-Rivera completed her first heptathlon with a score of 2511 with personal bests in the javelin and 200m.

The Panther women will look to extend their winning streak another week as they host the Gary Shaw Open on Saturday, March 25th. Field events will begin at 11:00am with running at 12:00pm.