Men's Track and Field

Qualin Simmons had a productive day in the relays and long jump at the Foothill Conference Relays

The Men’s track team took 5th overall in Friday’s Foothill Athletic Conference Relays. The team had outstanding individual performances which contributed significantly to the team’s overall success. Impressively, minutes after an exulting sprinting leg in the 4x200m, Qualin Simmons was able to add another inch to his exceptional early season mark in the long jump from last week’s competition. Simmons again earned 2nd place in the long jump with a leap of 20’8.5.” Moreover, Christian Jacobs had intimidating throws as he posted imposing marks of 39’6.25” in the shot put and 109’2.5” in the discus wearing ‘low top Chuck Taylors.’ Jacobs earned 3rd and 4th place in his events. Justin Gibbons had an impressive early season mark of 5’10” in the high jump and received 4th place.

On the track the action focused mostly on relay competition. Mesa's top finish was a second in the 4 x 200 relay. They also recorded a 6th place finish in the distance medley and a 7th place finish in the sprint medley. The team will divide up for the next competion with the distance runners going to the Oxy Distance Carnival and the rest of the team competing at the Aztec Invitational.

Micah Young opened his season with a second place in the long jump.

The track & field team opened their season at the Last Chance meet at Azusa Pacific. It was a great opportunity for the team to get a kick start on the season. The men’s team is quite a bit larger than in the past few years and it was great to see the Mesa navy blue and gold all over the track.

Leading the way for Mesa was Connor Betancourt, who won the 3000 meter with a time of 8:50.45. Ryan McMonigle and Deng Akuien were 3rd and 4th in the same race giving Mesa a strong showing in the event. Another strong performance in the middle and long distance events came from Sergio McGirr, who finished 2nd in the 1000 meter event with a time of 2:45.06. The sprint events were the deepest for Mesa as they entered 6 to 8 athletes in the 60 meter, the 200 meter, and the 400 meter events. Leading the sprint charge was Kenyon Morris, who had the team’s top time in both the 60 and 200 meters. The top time from Mesa in the 400 came from Estavan Galindo who ran 54.07. Chris Montiejunas, running 54.65 in another heat, also ran well for the team.

Fewer athletes competed in the field events during this early season meet, yet Mesa managed to have success in this area as well. Highlighting the field events was a second place finish in the long jump by Qualin Simmons, who jumped 20’ 8”. The leading shot put mark was 37’ 1 ¾ “ by Gerry Buckhanon.

Next up for the team is the Foothill Conference Relays, to be held at Antelope Valley on Friday, February 26.

Full Results

Connor Betancourt, a Southern California regional finalist last year in the 1500 meters, returns to lead the team in 2010.

The Mesa track & field team opens the season this Saturday, February 20 at the Azusa Pacific Last Chance meet. After two years of leading the women’s cross country team, Renee Ross takes over as coach of the track & field program. Ross brings a wealth of experience to the job and that has had an immediate impact on the program even before the season begins as the team will be by far the largest it has fielded in years. With many of the athletes being new to the program Ross is excited this week because “it will give our new athletes a chance to compete and the coaching staff a chance to see how all of the new athletes compete”.

This year’s team will be lead by a coaching staff whose talents include an incredible amount of athletic achievements. The staff includes: Head Coach Renee Ross, an All-American while at San Diego State, who will lead the sprints; Thom Hunt, who has lead the distance program that has produced six state champions in the past three years of cross country and track; Jared Rome, an Olympian and World Championships team member in the discus who will coach the throws; Bashir Ramzy, an All-American at Texas A&M in four events who will coach the hurdles; Marcus Carroll, an NCAA finalist in both the long and triple jumps who will coach those events at Mesa; Karoline Koehler, an NCAA All-American at San Diego State who will coach the high jump.