Eagles Improving as Track and Field Championship Season Nears
Coach Julius Jones sees it as a good sign that, this late in the season, Eagle track and field athletes are still seeing improvements in their times and distances.
That trend continued the past two weekends during the Shasta College Spring Break Meet in Redding and the Black and Gold Invitational at Butte College.
The Eagles will compete at the Yuba College NorCal Preview meet this Saturday, their final competition before the GVC Championships April 29 at Butte.
Jones said he prioritizes "making sure our athletes work toward hitting PRs each week. It's nice to see that week to week." He said the goal for the GVC Championships is to have every athlete earn at least one medal, and he believes they're capable of that. If it happens, the Eagle men will have a chance to finish as high as second place.
Three Eagles have already put themselves in position for the postseason based on previous performances this season, and Jones hopes one or two more will make it.
Aiden Ellis has qualified in the javelin and is in position to qualify in triple jump.
Marcus Dilworth Jr., who was recovering from a soft tissue injury last weekend, is in contention to make the postseason in long jump. Dilworth had a big meet at Shasta College April 8, placing third in long jump at 6.09m, 4th in the 100m with a season-best time of 11.45, and 8th in the 200m with a season-best time of 23.67.
For the Eagle women, Teya Amidei had a season-best javelin throw of 32.55m at Butte College last weekend, which was good for 3rd place and lifted her to the No. 15 ranking in the state.
Also for the women, Frances Fleener had a season-best shot put of 8.88m, good for an 8th place finish worth 2 points.
For the men at Butte College last weekend, Aiden Ellis placed 3rd in the javelin at 50.16m, while freshman William Allen placed 6th with a season-best 35.79 and freshman Zane Callison placed 8th with a season-best 33.19m.
Allen also had season-bests in the 100m and 110m hurdles, Zane Callison had season-bests in the 400m, hammer throw, discus and shot put, and freshman JeHan King placed 8th in shot put and 10th in javelin.
Freshman Chase Callison is continuing to bring his 800m time down, from 2:28.13 in first meet of season to 2:19.6 at Shasta College Spring Break Meet to 2:16.96 at Buttes' Black and Gold Invitational.
Elijah Grover had season-bests in the discus and shot put at Butte, Nevin Malchow put up his best mark in triple jump, and freshman Edric Moroyoqui had a season-best in the 200m.
Jones said representatives from universities who are looking into recruiting Eagle athletes will be watching during this weekend's meet at Yuba.
By Steve Gerace
