COS men place 2nd, women 4th, at state finals
The COS men's and women's track and field teams had the strongest showing ever in the state championships this past weekend in San Mateo, Ca. The COS men's track and field team finished as the state runner up to champion Mt. San Antonio College by one point. The women finished fourth despite only having five females who qualified for the state meet. "We ran and competed like champions" said COS head coach Curtis Allen.
On the men's side of the competition, the state title came down to the last race of the evening. COS was trailing Mt. San Antonio College 93 to 90. COS needed to win the men's mile relay and needed Mt. SAC to finish third or below in the race. COS did what they needed to do by winning the men's mile relay, and earning ten points, but Mt. SAC was able to finish in second place in the event and earn eight points to take the state championship home by a final team score of 101 to COS' 100 points. "We were just hoping that someone would finish ahead of Mt. SAC in that event. We have to take our hats off to Mt. SAC, they did what they needed to do in the last event of the meet to win the championships. For that, we congratulate them" said Coach Allen.
There were multiple outstanding finishes in the men's meet including Drelan Bramwell who took home individual state titles in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and was the anchor on the mile relay team that won. Jonathan Moore was able to secure a second place finish in the men's high jump by clearing 6'9 ½. Tacuma Richards took an individual title in the men's triple jump by going 52.2 feet. Richards also finished third in the long jump and fourth in the high jump.
On the women's side of the event, freshmen Deajah Stevens turned in another stellar performance by winning the individual titles in the 200 meters and the 400 meters. Stevens also anchored the mile relay which finished fifth and placed second in the long jump despite only working on the long jump for the last few weeks. "Deajah is one of the most gifted athletes I have ever seen. She is the total package. She is a phenomenal person, student, and athlete" said Coach Allen.
Women's distance runner sophomore Yesenia Silva's career as a COS student-athlete came to an end in San Mateo. Silva finished second in the women's 5000 and third in the women's 1500. "Yesenia is the most outstanding distance runner in the history of COS" according to head distance coach Dave Bronzan. Silva owns the COS schools records in the women's 1500, 5000, and 10,000. "Coach Issac Gonzales of Exeter High did a great job with Yesenia in high school, he is an inspiration to Yesenia. Coach Gonzales helped lay a great foundation for Yesenia and she was able to shed two minutes off of her high school time while here at COS. She will continue to improve at BYU next year as well."
When asked how can COS top this stellar season in track and field, head track and field coach Curtis Allen replied, "We will continue to recruit and expand our program. I want to increase the number of females we have on our women's team. We want to be right back in the hunt next year at this time." With a team of mostly freshmen on this year's COS track and field team, they just might.
