Track and field takes on competition at Mesa Classic
Latasha Newburn
On April 10, Mesa Community College held its fifteenth annual Mesa Classic track meet. This event included more than 600 competing athletes from various schools such as BYU, Central Arizona, Montana State, Northern Iowa and Utah, among many others.
Overall the Thunderbird men placed third in the Mesa Classic and the Lady Thunderbirds placed sixth.
Samia Stokes broke the school record once again in the classic with a final throw of 49.95 meters in the hammer throw.
“It felt great. I had so much adrenaline that I knew that it was going to be a big throw. And to place a PR (personal record) by 11 feet felt even better,” Stokes said.
“I have to thank Coach Post, John Godina, Suzy Powell, Summer P. and Drew Ulrick for helping me out. I deeply appreciate it,” she added.
“However, this is not the end, records are made to be broken and I plan on breaking it again,” said a determined Stokes.
The event took place on a windy Friday evening but through it all, the entire event turned out well. The Thunderbirds took advantage of the opportunity to compete against other Division I athletes.
Since Coach Steve Jacobs has been the head of the track program, MCC has maintained their position in the top tier of national competition.
Currently the women are ranked fifth in the indoor nationals while men are currently ranked at 14.
Coach Jacobs has hopes that the team will rank in the top ten outdoor nationals.
“Every year is different, some years you get team oriented athletes and other times you don’t,” Jacobs said.
“This year, our team works well with each other. They work hard together and are real team oriented.” he added.
So far 25 athletes have competed at the indoor nationals and 30 or more are expected to join the group in the outdoor nationals, which is a little over half.
“That’s a real good percentage to get at least half the team,” said Jacobs proudly about his team.
The Thunderbirds only have three more track meets before the National Junior College Athletic Association Decathlon and Heptathlon Championships before the Regional Championships at John D. Riggs Stadium.
Qualifying athletes will then participate in the NJCAA National Championship in Hutchinson, Kansas at the end of May.
Stokes recently broke the MCC shot put record on March 21 before breaking the record again at the Mesa Classic.
The women’s 4×100 team qualified for Nationals at the Baldy Castillo Invitational at ASU.
Hailey Hanna also qualified for Nationals in the 1500-meter dash at the ASU event.
Preparing for Nationals in the high jump Robbie Haynie, Kyle Byrne and Tehara Moore will be competing for a national title in Kansas.
