Canyons Track & Field Begins Season on High Note

On Friday, the COC men's and women's track & field teams participated in the annual 'Battle of the Regions' meet hosted by Bakersfield College, with the Canyons female contingent taking first place and the men's team placing third.

The COC women's team registered a score of 147 to finish ahead of second place Modesto College (132) and third place Bakersfield (114).

Other schools that participated in the 11-team meet included College of the Sequoias, Glendale, Cuesta, Ventura, Antelope Valley, Allan Hancock, Santiago Canyon and L.A. Trade-Tech.

Included among the many bright spots for COC was the performances of freshman Jada Selexman who took first place in the 400m (59.54), third in the 200m (26.63), first in the high jump (4'8") and third in the long jump (4.63m).

The Golden Valley High School product also ran on both COC's first place 4x400m relay team and second place 4x100m relay team — all at her first college meet!

Fellow GVHS grad Caitlyn Zindroski also fared well, running on both relay teams and placing second in the long jump (4.68m) and third in the triple jump (9.81m).

COC freshman Ariana Cooper finished first in the 400m hurdles (1:10.09) and second in the 100m hurdles (16.75), while freshman Amanda De Jesus took first in the 3,000m steeplechase.

The men's team posted a third place score of 91, to trail second place Modesto (123.66) and first place College of the Sequoias (149).

Canyons freshman Ethan Walker finished first in both the 800m (1:57.65) and 1,500m run (4:06.47), and sophomore Rodrigo Ornelas took first place in the 3,000m run (8:56.28). 

COC sophomore Alex Johnson took first in the men's 3,000m steeplechase (10:42.12) and sophomore Kevin Pontonuwu took second in the triple jump (12.63m).

The Canyons 4x400m relay team also finished in third place (3:28.52).

Canyons will next participate in the Western State Conference (WSC) Relays on Friday, Feb. 20, at Ventura College.