Canyons Track Teams Both Finish Second, Combine to Win 13 Events
By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director
College of the Canyons track & field hosted the Western State Conference (WSC) South Meet at Cougar Stadium on Friday, with the men's and women's teams combining to win 13 events while establishing more than 40 personal-best times and marks.
Both teams finished second among the six competing schools in the meet's respective team standings.
On the men's side it was Canyons (119) trailing only meet winner Moorpark College (156). The Cougars' squad took first in seven events, with 19 personal bests on the day.
Elijah Reid won the 200m (21.98) and was runner-up in the 100m (10.83) and was a member of both relay teams.
The 4x100 squad of Josh Smith, Matthew Grider, Reid and Antonio Moore placed second at 42.62. Later, it was the same foursome running in the 4x400 at a time of 3:24.97 to take third.
Moore stacked wins in the 110h (14.74) and 400h (54.37), with his pace in the 400h representing the fourth-fastest time in program history.
Smith was a runner-up in the 400m (49.11) with a personal best time.
Spencer Easterbrook was also a two-event winner. The freshman took first in both the 1,500m (4:11.16) and the 3,000m (9:41.23) with both times representing personal bests.
Alejandro Cueto finished first in the 800m (1:58.35) and Esaias Ellis won the triple jump (13.17m) to round out the COC event winners. Ellis also took second in the long jump (6.40m).
Jonathan Kanaley had a strong all-around day in the field events. The freshman placed third in the shot put (11.76m), third in the hammer throw (29.68m), seventh in the javelin (33.94m) and 11th in the discus (28.23m).
The Cougars' women's team (103) finished the meet second behind only Moorpark (138). COC won six events with 22 new personal best times.
Once again, it was sophomore Hazel Rhodes posting wins in the 100m (12.31) and 200m (24.68) with those times both representing a personal best pace. Rhodes' time in the 400m places her fourth in the program's all-time rankings, while her 200m performance is now the school's No. 2 time. Rhodes also finished second in the javelin (29.74m) to round out her individual performances.
Amara Shields won the 400m (1:00.75) and tied for third in the high jump (1.30m), alongside teammate Syrai Piper (1.30m). Piper was also second behind Shields in the 400m (1:01.25).
Monique Fulling ran to victory in the 400h (1:04.08) and ran as a member of both first-place relay teams.
In the 4x100 event it was Fulling, Piper, Shields and Rhodes clocking a time of 48.18 to win the event.
To close out the meet, the combination of Piper, Shields, Fulling and Rhodes finished at 3:55.57 to also win the 4x400 relay.
Victoria Jamison was second in the 1,500m (5:07.70). Kayla Hargrove posted a pair of second-place results in the discus (28.60) and hammer throw (32.48), while also taking third in the shot put (9.24m).
Canyons will take a break from conference competition by attending the Mangrum Invitational hosted by California State University, San Marcos on Friday, March 27.
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.
—Photo by Robert Hanashiro/COC Sports Information
