Justina Cummings, is one of the quartet of runners that placed 16th in the 400-meter relay at the Beach Invitational Saturday that was held at Falcon Stadium.

The meet included community colleges and universities from around the United States, and from Brazil, Canada and Mexico.

Cummings’ team finished the race with a time of 48.58 becoming the only community college team to place.

The intense competition is helping her prepare for the upcoming South Coast Conference Championships that will be held at Mt. San Antonio College.

“(I am) probably my biggest competition, honestly. I can only be as good as I allow myself to be,” Cummings said.

She expressed by the end of the season she should have a ring on her finger.

Freshman Jasmine Ayala, beat her current record of 5:20 in the 1500-meter race by one second bringing her personal record to 5:19.

“The next weeks might be my last weeks on track so in practice I am focusing on just beating my personal record in the next competitions,” Ayala said.

There were 34 states represented in the Beach Invitation which was hosted by California State University Long Beach.

“There were a lot of good marks and jumps. People traveled far, from Oregon and Utah, to come here to compete. People are beating their own personal records today,” Cummings said.

The South Coast Conference held at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday followed by the Southern California Prelims at Antelope Valley College on May 4.