Talon Marks Online Sports

Cerritos College men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in Cal State Fullerton’s Ben Brown invitational this past weekend.

The invitational took place on Friday and Saturday.

A variety of schools participated in the invitational, including UCLA, Pepperdine, Cal State Los Angeles, USC, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and several junior colleges.

The event attracted around 1,400 to 1,500 entries in the invitational.

Tracy Bowling, who came in 15th place in the 5,000 meters race, set a new school record. Her time of 17:47.33 beat the old standard of 18:18.86, which was set in 2006 by Meryl Follosco. Bowling was one of three community college runners that participated.

Destini Poplar, a hammer thrower and shot putter, participated in two events.

“I participated in hammer and shot put, but I did not make it to finals.

“I think overall, we did pretty well,” she continued. “We had some good strengths and weaknesses. We could always improve from what we do. Personally, I think I can improve in my shot put by working on my technique.”

As a team, the Falcons fared well and will now host the California Relays on Wednesday and Thursday.

Miguel Villacan, a javelin thrower, discus thrower and shot putter, wasn’t able to attend the invitational, but gave his thoughts on the teams’ performances.

“I think they did pretty well,” he said.

“We have a strong team and everyday we are working hard to get better as well as support each other to improve our form.”

Carissa English, a hammer and discus thrower, commented on her performance.

“I competed in the hammer and discus throw, but I did not place in finals for any of the events.

“Overall, we did pretty good. I need to focus on myself and on my team to improve.

“My goal is to get to state and to at least place in the top. Our next competition is this Friday at Cerritos,” she said.

The men and women’s track team will be participating in the California Relays at the Cerritos track on Wednesday at 10 a.m.