Trojans set 20 PR's at Ralph Vernacchia Invite

The EvCC Track and Field program traveled to Bellingham this weekend to compete in the 38th annual Ralph Vernacchia Track and Field meet hosted by Western Washington University.  Though the air was crisp, the sky was blue and the sun was out, which has been a rarity to this point in the 2019 season.  It was a good weekend for the program as 16 Trojans set personal collegiate bests in 20 different events.   

Men's Highlights

• Markell Carter took 7th in the triple Jump with a mark of 42'9" (4th among community college athletes) and setting a new PR.  That distance puts him 13th overall in the NWAC. 
• Jake Donovan set two new PR's.  First in the shot put, he threw 40' 1/2", besting his previous mark by over 2' and placing 9th overall, first among CC athletes. Then in the discus he threw 107' 1" which was an improvement of nearly 5' from his previous best.  Jake is currently 9th overall in the NWAC in the shot and 20th overall in the discus.
• Isaiah Funston improved his NWAC leading 800 M time by 2 seconds finishing at 1:56.98, good enough for 9th overall of 46 competitors and beating out a number of NCAA DII athletes.
• Greg Panther finished three one hundredths of a second behind Isaiah at 1:57.01 in the 800 meters, setting his new PR by 2 seconds and now sits at 2nd overall in the NWAC.
• Tim Mandzyuk ran the 5000 meters for the first time this season and placed 5th overall with a time of 16:05.05.  That time ranks 8th overall in the NWAC.  Tim is also a top Steeplechase competittor in the NWAC with a time of 10:06.73 (3rd overall).
• Nathan McGinty took 2nd overall in the 10,000 meters setting his new PR by 1:37 and moving him up to 6th overall in the NWAC.  
• Galmo Said set two career bests, running 2:07.15 in the 800 meters and 4:16.40 in the 1,500 meters.  His 1,500 time was good enough for 11th overall at the meet, 1st among CC competitors.  Galmo is now 13th overall in the NWAC in the 1,500 and just 4 seconds back from being ranked inside the top 8.   
• Jermiah Stone jumped 43'5" in the triple, placing him 6th overall at the meet and ranking him 9th overall in the NWAC.  He is a mere 1.5 inches away from being inside the top 8.
• Jaydon Tryon posted a huge 169' 5" throw in the javelin placing 6th overall, first among CC competitors and bumping his ranking to 10th overall in the NWAC, 3 feet behind teammate Geoffrey McGaughey

Women's Highlights  

• Maylynn Cendejas had a slight improvement on her 1500 meter time, but saw a big 4 second improvement on her 800 meter time setting her new PR at 2:48.90
• Taylor Dewing placed 12th in the 100m hurdles beating out one NCAA DII competitor and two other NWAC competitors.  Dewing is currently ranked 7th overall among NWAC athletes in the 100 m hurdles but if she can get back to her career best which she ran last year at the NWAC Championships (15.59s) she would have the NWAC's leading time by two tenths of a second.  Taylor's 15.59s time also ranks 2nd all time at EvCC.  
• Mamona Kahsai competed for the first time in the 100 meters and posted a time of 13.72 putting her inside the top 25 in the NWAC rankings.
• Ellee London also competed in an event for the first time in her collegiate career, and posted a time of 19:26.79 in the 5000 meters ranking her 4th overall in the NWAC.  London also ranks 7th overall in the 1,500 and 2nd overall in the 800 meters.   
• Grace Wright improved her discus PR by over 2 feet, throwing 110' 10" and placing 9th overall.  Coincidentally, Grace also ranks 9th overall in the NWAC, just 4 inches away from ranking inside the top 8.  

The next meet for the Trojans will be this coming weekend, where they will travel south to Oregon.  A select number of athletes will compete at the Portland Twilight, while the rest of the team will compete at the Linfield Open in McMinville, OR.  These will be the final meets before the NWAC Championships on May 20th and 21st.