Canyons Combines to Win Nine Events at AVC Invitational

The College of the Canyons men's and women's track & field teams finished first in a combined nine events at the Antelope Valley College Invitational on Friday, as the Cougars continue to perform at a high level in all areas of competition.

COC sophomore Jasmine Hall had perhaps the most dominant performance, besting her opponent in the women's heptathlon in all eight events to finish with a score of 4,611 points.

Other event winners on the women's side included sophomore Ariana Cooper with a time of 1:07.26 in the 400h. Cooper also finished second place in the 100h at 15.76. 

The 4x400m relay team featuring Cooper, Díani Ellis, Hall and Taylor Stiverson ran to a first place finish at a time of 4:15.24. 

Cooper also led off the 4x100m relay, joining Stiverson, Keyana Session and Nameda Skarule for a third place mark of 50.22. 

Ellis also took first place in the 800m with a time of 2:38.27, followed be second place Alexandra Whitman (2:28.57) and Sophia Stephan (2:30.21) in third.

Whitman also earned a fourth place result in the 1500m at a pace of 5:09.95

COC sophomore Dana Bowers enjoyed a successful day in the throws events. Bowers finished first in the javelin with a distance of 31.47m, second in the shot put at 11.82m and sixth in the discus at 32.14m.

Bowers later finished tied for second in the high jump (1.54m), placing behind teammate Kaitlyn Matthews who wont the event at 1.64m.

Samiyah Hawkins took second in the discus at 40.13m and third in the shot put at 11.62m. 

Skarule jumped 9.53m to finish third in the triple jump.

The COC men's team also had a number of standout performances led by Leo Lambert III, Slade Cavallaro and Delon Buncio.

Lambert took first in the 400m at 49.12 and also ran anchor on both the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams. 

The 4x400m team of Keion Broadus, Cavallaro, Travis Larson and Lambert clocked a time of 3:26.02 to lead the field. The combination of Buncio, Cavallaro, Beeler and Lambert was third at 42.73.

Cavallaro also won the 400h at a time of 55.92. Broadus took second in the 800m at 1:59.52 followed closely by Tochukwe Eze in third place at 2:01.37. 

Buncio also fared well in both the triple jump (12.24m) and high jump (1.91m) events to finish third and fourth, respectively.

Marcel Sylvester was third in the high jump at 1.91m and Jacob Crosson was third in the 3,000m steeplechase at 10:36.42.

Louis Eusebi turned in a time of 22.88 to finish fourth in the 200m and Garrett Noltemeyer was fifth in the 3,000m at 9:25.54.

Erich Sachs was second with a throw of 44.15m in the javelin, likewise for Diontre Harris with his toss of 13.63m in the shot put. 

Canyons will next compete at the Bakersfield College Relays meet at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 25.