Grover Breaks Long Standing 1500 School Record

Hartnell College sophomore Malena Grover set a new school record in the 1500 meters Saturday at the American River College Invitational. Her mark of 4:38.85 bettered the 35 year old record set by Jody Cobb in 1981 of 4:39.5. Grover, who prepped at Salinas High School, is currently ranked #2 in the state in the 1500 meters and #3 nationally for communing college women trailing Marleena Eubanks of Central Arizona Junior College at 4:34.59 and Micayla Rennick of America River College at 4:38.18. In addition to her 1500 meter record, Grover established a season best in the 800 meters at 2:20.07 to place second overall and as the highest community college female. With four regular season meets left and the championship competitions, Grover will attempt to break the school records in the 3000 meters and 10,000 meters as well in hopes of establishing herself as the best female distance runner in Hartnell College history.

Also competing well for the Lady Panthers were Nancy Rodriguez, Stephanie Powers, Alyssa Pochop, Adriana Jimenez and Marissa Gonzalez. Rodriguez placed second with a personal best in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 11:56.56 to record the third best mark in Northern California. Rodriguez is one of just three Lady Panthers ever to complete the event in under 12 minutes. Stephanie Powers has overcome an early season hip injury and surgery to regain fine form in the 400 low hurdles. Her time of 68.01 moves her into fifth in Northern California and is the best performer in the Coast Conference. Freshman Alyssa Pochop improved on her all-time hammer throw mark with a toss of 134'1" this week. Fellow freshman Adriana Jimenez chopped five seconds off her season best in the 1500 meters (5:08.79) to dip comfortably under the regional qualifier standard. Also joining her is Maria Rodriguez at 5:11.03. Marissa Gonzalez got two season best and regional qualifiers competing in the pole vault and triple jump. Her clearance of 9'3.75" was a lifetime best and her triple jump mark was 32'7.75".

For the men, Rhett Gonzalez, Paul Koenig, Andrew Martinez, Skye Keller, Thomas Salao, and the 4x400 relay enjoyed solid performances. Sophomore Rhett Gonzalez shaved more than a half second off his season best and lowered his lifetime best in the 110 high hurdles from 14.97 to 14.75. The mark makes Gonzalez the fourth best performer in the region. Koenig lowered his lifetime best in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles to 56.36. Frosh Andrew Martinez took 18 seconds off his 3k steeplechase best to qualify for the regional final with his 10:11.88. Skye Keller sprinted a season best 22.56 in the 200 meters. Thomas Salao recorded a regional qualifying javelin mark with a toss of 154'0". The 4x400 relay team lowered its season best to 3:27.35.

For full ARC Invitational results: http://cccaasports.org/Track/2016ARC_InviteResults.pdf

The Panthers will compete multiple times over spring break starting on Tuesday at the College of San Mateo Spring Break Classic and conclude with competitions on Friday at San Francisco State and Saturday at Chabot College.