Mesa Community College track and field teams shine at Mesa Multis
The Mesa Community College men’s and women’s track and field team competed at the Mesa Multis track meet, hosted at MCC on Feb. 1-2 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on each day, as well as the Central Arizona College Indoor Invitational on Feb. 3, as MCC reached the midway point of the season.
The women’s team finished in the top three of the Mesa Multis in the 800-meter, long jump and shot put, including first and second place in the 800-meter event, as part of the pentathlon.
The men’s team finished in the top three of all seven events they participated in, including the 60-meter sprint, 60-meter hurdles, 1000-meter distance run, high jump, long jump, pole vault and shot put events.
MCC won five events in total, with Central Arizona College and Pima Community College both winning three events, and Glendale Community College winning two.
“I think right now we’re very strong in the multi events and mid distance events. That’s where most of the qualifiers are from. However we do have very good standouts in the jumps and hurdles,” said distance running coach Daniel Pescador.
Maliyah Ross was the top performer for the Thunderbirds, taking first place in the indoor pentathlon long jump and 800-meter on her way to first place overall in the indoor pentathlon with 3478 points.
Aliyah Gidharry of Central Arizona College finished in second place in the indoor pentathlon with 3234 points, while Leila Barmore of Glendale Community College narrowly finished in third place with 3232 points.
Milo Lammertink from Central Arizona College finished the men’s heptathlon in first place with 4667 points, while Dillon Arvayo from Pima Community College finished in second place with 4584 points.
The top performing Thunderbird in the men’s heptathlon was Myles Larsen, finishing with 4461 points.
Bradley Runge of MCC was on pace to perform very well, finishing in first place in the shot put and finishing in second place in the 60-meter, 60-meter hurdles and high jump, however was unable to complete the heptathlon after not competing in the pole vault and 1000m.
The women’s team finished in the top three in 12 events, winning seven. The team also had multiple athletes finish in the top three in three events as well.
Deshay Turner won both the 60-meter run and the 200-meter run, Taylor Jacobs won the 600-meter run, Sarah Nipper won the pole vault, Marisa Hennix won the triple jump.
The men’s team finished in the top three of 13 events, winning six. The team also had multiple athletes finish in the top three in eight events.
The men’s team even took all three of the top spots in three events including the 400-meter run, 600-meter run and the 4×400-meter relays. The team also took the top two spots in the pole vault event, only having two athletes compete.
Darius Brown took home the victory in the 400m run, Samuel Green won the 600-meter run, Jorge Trujillo won the 3000-meter distance run, Alvien Blouin won the high jump, Nathan Jacobson won the pole vault. Darius Brown, Ousman Jagne, Jalen Bradford, and Eli Jackson combined to win the 4×400-meter relay.
MCC has a total of 24 athletes who have qualified for indoor nationals which take place on March 1-2 in Gainesville, Florida.
The next meet for both teams will be the Don Kirby Indoor Invitational in Albuquerque, NM on Feb. 9-10.
