Cougar Track & Field Honored with 16 All-WSC Selections

Photo college featuring action shots of College of the Canyons track & field student-athletes Zenith Ellsworth, JT Saenz, Jerome Hughes and Katelyn Catu.
May 22, 2024

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director  

The College of the Canyons track & field program had a combined 16 student-athletes from the men's and women's teams earn All-Western State Conference (WSC) honors based on their individual performance at the WSC Championships earlier this month. 

The women's team gained honors in four events while the men's team was recognized in 12.

Sophomore Zeniah Ellsworth was the top honoree for Canyons with three all-conference designations. Ellsworth was a First-Team designee in the 400m (2nd/59.23). She was also recognized with Second-Team honors as an individual in the 200m (5th/26.10) and as part of the 4x400 relay team (4th/4:17.64) in which Ellsworth ran from the anchor position.

Kaiya Cortinas, Katelyn Catu and Emily Cruz joined Ellsworth in comprising the 4x400 relay squad.

Catu was an Honorable Mention selection in the 800m (7th/2:28.46). 

Canyons claimed two individual conference championships based on the performances of sophomore Jerome Hughes in the 800m (1:53.58) and freshman Nathaniel Wilkinson in the 3K steeplechase (9:55.66), which automatically granted them First-Team honors.

Also included as First-Team honorees were freshman JT Saenz in the triple jump (2nd/13.11m/43' 0.25") and sophomore Sam Regez in the 1500m (3rd/4:01.16).

Saenz and Hughes were also recognized with First-Team accolades as part of the 4x400 relay team (3rd/3:20.91) alongside Heath Arceneaux and Lyndon Ravare. 

Ravare was a Second-Team honoree in the 100m (6th/11.04), and was honored again for his work on the 4x100 relay team (4th/42.65), with the freshman running anchor behind the team of Da'Marrie Smith, Andre Bray and Alex Megas.

Bray was a Second-Team selection in the triple jump (5th/12.32m/40' 5").

Freshman Delamonte Barnes in the shot put (6th/11.82m/38' 9.5") and freshman Travis Royal (6th/44.64m/146' 5") were Second-Team designees in their respective field events. 

Damon Barkus was a dual-award recipient with the freshman earning Honorable Mention nods in both the triple jump (7th/12.05m/39' 6.5") and long jump (8th/6.49m/21' 3.5").

Canyons wrapped the 2024 season by sending 16 student-athletes to compete at the prelims of the 3C2A Southern California Regional Championship, with five advancing to the regional finals. 

From there, the Cougars saw Hughes, Regez and Saenz qualify to compete at the 3C2A State Championship meet held May 17-18, at Saddleback College.

Hughes ran a time of 1:56.59 in the 800m to finish eighth in the field and earn All-State Team honors. Likewise for Saenz who was an All-State Team honoree in the triple jump after placing eighth with a leap of 13.66m/44' 9.75". Regez placed 12th in the 1500m at a pace of 4:23.30 in his final appearance with the Cougars.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.