ELZIE (100) & JOHNSON (SP, DT) WIN COAST TRACK & FIELD TITLES

by Fred Baer, CSM Sports Information

JD Elzie won the Coast Conference 100 meter title in a personal best 10.80 seconds Friday and will lead host College of San Mateo entrants for the Northern California Community College Track and Field Trials next Friday.

Elzie, a freshman out of Aragon High, had a great start and led all the way to finish well ahead of runner-up James Edward of De Anza (10.95). Darren Jdi-Pevou of CSM finished sixth (11.07).

Jerry Johnson was a double field winner for the Bulldogs, taking the shot put at 45 feet a half inch and the discus throw at 139-1. David Afu was the discus runner-up (136-9), was fourth in the hammer throw (141-6), and sixth in the shot put (41-9 1/4).

TRACK NEWBIE TAFOLLA ALREADY #19 IN STATE 800: The men's 800 meters was a 2-person race. Track newbie Jorge Tafolla of CSM improved his personal best nearly two seconds to take the silver medal in 1:55.68, chasing conference leader Gerardo Castro of CCSF throughout. Castro prevailed in 1:53.61, a bit off his No. 3 state ranking time of 1:51.92.

Tafolla did not compete in track at Menlo-Atherton High, where he graduated in 2007. The East Palo Alto resident is in his first full season running track. This was only his fifth 800 meter race and his third time under two minutes – and he already ranks No. 19 in the state! "I was really looking forward to this race (against Castro)," Tafolla said.

Tafolla broke two minutes at the De Anza Invitational on March 13, running 1:59.97. His next 2-lap race was in Tuesday's Coast trials, running 1:57.23. He has run 4:14.61 for 1,500 meters this season. 

Gabe Ferges starred in the horizontal jumps for the Bulldogs, taking second in the triple jump (42-2) and fourth in the long jump (21-11). James Donegan tied for second in the pole vault at 12-10 3/4 but received the bronze medal due to more misses.

Matt Rouse followed up on his silver medal performance in the 10,000 meters (33:14.37) on the first day of the championships to take eighth in the 5,000 meters (16:16.95) after leading that race for the early laps. National 5,000 leader Diego Leon of Hartnell won both races, as well as the 1,500.

MAPA PACES CSM WOMEN:  Emma Mapa scored in all four women's throws for the Bulldogs. Her top performance was a silver medal finish in the javelin (111-0). She also placed fifth in the shot put (36-7 1/2), sixth in the discus throw (117-10) and seventh in the hammer throw (115-6).

Mirka Uhlirova finished fifth for CSM in the 800 meters (2:28.66) and Tarney Haussler was sixth in the 400 meters (1:02.88).

ADDITIONAL CSM SCORERS IN THE MEN'S THROWS: William Sapp, third in the javelin (150-8) and sixth in the discus (133-5); William Rogers, fourth in the shot (42-1 1/2); Nathan Jordan, fifth in the javelin (142-9); and Amien Alazzah, eighth in the hammer (129-9).

  NORCAL TRIALS FRIDAY, MAY 1, AT CSM:

Several national community college leaders will compete in the NorCal Track & Field Trials at CSM on Friday.  They include:

MEN

5,000 meters, Diego Leon, Hartnell, 14:26.65.

Long Jump, Eric Sloan, San Joaquin Delta, 25-10 1/4.

Triple Jump, Sloan, 54-0.

4 x 400 meter relay, College of the Sequoias, 3:07.10

WOMEN:

200 meters, Deajah Stevens, Sequoias, 23.18.

400 meters, Stevens, 53.63

Javelin Throw, Kelsey Shaw, College of the Siskiyous, 166-4.

Additional state leaders:

Men: high jump: Tacuma Anderson-Richards, Sequoias, 6-11 1/2; shot put, Daniel Roberts, Modesto, 56-7 1/2; discus, Roberts, 184-5;  4x100 relay, Sequoias, 40.13; hammer throw, James Hubbard, American River, 194-1; javelin throw, Elijah Marta, Siskiyous, 220-3;

Women: 100, Moesha Davidson, Fresno, 11.61; 100 hurdles, Kortni Smyers-Jones, Laney, 13.65; 4 x 100 relay, Laney, 46.89; high jump, Mahogany Stitt, Merced, 5-8;

FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE: Field events on Friday begin at 9:30 a.m. with the men's hammer throw and women's shot put.

The only two finals on the day are the first two running events, the women's and men's 10,000 meters, starting at 11 a.m. The top six finishers will qualify for the state championships at CSM on May 15-16 (as long as they have met the state time standard).

A full afternoon of qualifying for NorCal running finals begins at 1 p.m. with the 4 x 100 meter relay. American River College will host the NorCal finals on May 8.