Madison Hudson
Staff Writer
As the Leopards competed in their last events of the league season, the men’s and women’s track and field teams took part in the two-day Southern Conference Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship meet Saturday and Sunday at Ortmayer Stadium.
The men finished fifth and the women placed ninth.
Sophomore Ha’ani Untalan looked relaxed and steady when preparing for her events – the 4×100-meter relay, 4×100-meter relay, high jump and long jump.
“I think the performance went really well, I am really proud of my team as well as myself knowing that we tried our best after being thrown into events at the last minute,” Untalan said. “Overall as a team, we earned 20 plus more points than we did last year, which I am beyond proud of.”
Untalan had a great meet finishing seventh in the 4×100-meter relay, eighth in 4×400-meter relay, reaching 4 feet-7.75 inches in high jump and extending out to 15 feet-11 inches in long jump.
The Leopards were constantly running around the field with bright orange flags while their teammates were competing in the field and running events cheering and encouraging them to finish strong and to not give up until they hit the finish line.
Junior Kenneth Davis had a successful meet, hitting a personal best in long jump as well as competing in the high jump. The determination and competitiveness was seen on Davis’ face while battling a hamstring injury.
Davis finished fourth (6.74-meters) in long jump and second place (13.69-meters) in high jump.
Graduate student Austin Haines ran the 400-meter dash in 52.62 seconds, finishing 21st overall.
“As an individual, it wasn’t a great weekend for me, but my role this weekend was to cheer on my teammates and motivate them in their races,” said Haines, who has battled injuries all season. “As a team I thought it was one of our best weekends competing and encouraging each other.”
Freshman Peyton Carrera is a distance runner who competes in the 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, and the 4×400-meter relay.
“It has always been a stereotype in track and field that sprinters and distance don’t get along necessarily,” Carrera said. “As this season has progressed, I found this wasn’t the case, everyone gets along and it’s like one big family.”
The Leopards’ first post-SCIAC meet is the Occidental Invitational in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Madison Hudson can be reached at madison.hudson@laverne.edu.
Madison Hudson is a staff writer for the Campus Times.
