Grover Runs Two State Leading Marks at Coast Preview Meet
Hartnell College sophomore Malena Grover is on a mission to break every Lady Panther distance mark before she graduates this spring. On Saturday at the Coast Conference Preview she inched closer to two long standing marks and established state leading marks by large margins. Grover's times in the 1500 meters of 4:45.67 and 10:14.49 in the 3000 meters were both lifetime personal bests. Her 1500 mark moves her to the fourth best performer in school history and within striking distance of Jody Cobb's school record of 4:39.5 run in 1981. Grover is already the second best performer in school history in the 3000 meter but is looking to become only the second woman ever to go under 10 minutes for the 7.5 lap race. Former Olympian Maria Trujillo still holds the Hartnell College record of 9:52.7 set in 1979. Grover has a lead of 10 seconds in the 1500 and 39 seconds in 3000 meters over the next best community college mark in the state. A returning All-American and school record holder the 5000 meter run, Grover could set school record marks in the 1500, 3000, 5000, and 10,000 meters this season.
In addition to Grover's outstanding marks, several Lady Panthers produced season bests of regional qualifying marks in the nine team competition. Sophomore Tori Teraji had a state automatic qualifying throw in the discus (127'4.75") and a regional qualifying 104'8.75" in the javelin. Fellow throwers Chelsea Andrade and Elizabeth Alcala also had regional qualifying marks in two throwing events. Andrade lead the pair in the discus throw 114'1.25" to 112'6.50". Alcala returned the favor in the hammer throw 123'6" to 122'3"Sophomore Yessika Mayo improved on her regional qualifying mark in the 1500 meters placing second to teammate Grover with her time of 5:09.06. Mayo also had a season best in the 3000 meter run at 11:10.36. Sophomore Nancy Rodriguez, the top returning 3000 meter steeplechaser in Northern California, placed second in the 3000 meter run in a lifetime best 11:00.11 making her the fifteenth best performer in school history. As a team, the women placed third among nine schools trailing only team winner American River College at 154.5 points and conference foe DeAnza College at 151 points. The Lady Panthers tallied 113 points in the competition.
Sophomore Dustin Samms shined in the men's competition producing the third best hammer throw in Northern California with a toss of 172'6". The mark is just short of his school record set last year. Samms is a returning state championship qualifier in the hammer throw. Freshman Edgar Bonilla got a little redemption from the fall's cross country regional championship as he turned the table on cross country champion Abdul Hamid of American River College in the 1500 meters. Bonilla was the event winner in a season best 4:05.94. He also placed third in the 3000 meters in a season best 8:56.36. Also running well in the 3000 meters were Jorge Sanchez (9:05.26), Oscar Mora, Jr. (9:06.26), and Eduardo Orozco (9:06.86). The men's 4x100 relay team of Norman Napolitano, Thomas Salao, Jordan Rodriguez, and Sky Keller ran a season best 43.22. Keller, a Monterey High School product, ran the third best 100 meters in the conference with his 11.20 debut at the distance. Freshman Thomas Salao joined teammates Nathan Bishop and Norma Napolitano with a regional qualifier clearance in the pole vault with his 12'10" mark here. As a team, the Panthers placed third with 73.50 points trailing DeAnza College with 91.50 points and Big 8 Conference team American River College with 283.50.
The Panthers will travel to Chabot College on Friday for the Northern California Preview Meet. Field events start at 10am and running events 11am.
Link to full Coast Conference Preview Results
https://www.directathletics.com/results/track/42684.html