CSM track wins four conference titles

The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.

OAKLAND — College of San Mateo crowned four champions at the Coast Conference Track and Field Championships, which concluded Saturday at Laney College in Oakland.

Zoe Thompson took the early lead in the women's 800 meters and held off a challenge from Nelly Isidro of Monterey Peninsula in the backstretch and off the final turn to win by a one-second margin in 2 minutes, 23.59 seconds.

Jordan Flowers took the women's javelin title with a fifth-round throw of 96 feet, 8 inches. She had trailed Arianna Cabrera-Noriega of Hartnell after the first round but ended up winning by more than seven feet over Cabrera-Noriega's best of 89-1. Flowers is the Coast season leader at 99-4.

CSM owned the men's high jump competition. Freshman Aiydan Bague and sophomore Daren Randolph were perfect through the height of 6-2 3/4, as the rest of the field bowed out. Both men missed at 6-4 3/4, failing on all three attempts. A jump off fourth try also failed to break the tie. Both athletes settled on sharing the gold medal.

Bague was the meet's all around jumping performer, placing third in both the long jump (22-7 3/4) and the triple jump (44-9).

Marco Parodi led track efforts for the San Mateo men. He won his heat of the 100 meters with a season record of 11.18, which was good for fourth overall. He also won his 200 heat with a SR of 22.58, which was good for fifth overall.

The sophomore also anchored both Bulldogs relay teams – including a strong silver medal performance by the 4×400 quartet, running a season best 3:27.43. That group consisted of Brendan O'Connell (54.8), Jaxon Igtanloc (49.5), Marco Martiin (51.2) and Parodi (51.9) — who challenged victorious Monterey Peninsula (3:26.07) on the anchor lap.

CSM was fourth in the 4×100 relay in a season best 42.95 with Brevan Rhode, O'Connell, Igtanloc, and Parodi.

Individually, Rhode placed third in both 110 hurdles (15.62) and 400 hurdles (58.68). O'Connell was fourth in the 110 (16.18). Martin placed third in the 400 (51.36), with Igtanloc (5.46) fourth – both season bests.

In the long throws, Brandon Beane placed third in the men's javelin (157-6) and fifth in the discus (season best 125-1).

Arianna Hathorne paced CSM women's sprint performances, placing fifth in both the 100 meters (12.75) and 200 meters (season best 26.27) and running key relay legs on a pair of third place teams. The freshman joined Halle Ichiuji, Lia Mora-Ramirez, and Thompson on the 4×100 group that ran a season best 42.95). The 4×400 quartet of Ichiuji (67.9), Thompson (62.3), Hawthorne (66.0), and Flowers (67.8) clocked 3:24.00.

In team scoring, the Bulldogs placed fourth in both divisions, the men totaling 114 1/2 points and the women 67 1/2. De Anza took the men's title with 224 points. Monterey Peninsula was the women's winner with 205.

Most of the CSM scorers will advance to the Northern California Championships at American River College in Sacramento on May 3 and 4.

CSM assistant third in Mt. SAC long jump; seeks berth in Paris Olympics this summer

Jason Smith, assistant track coach at CSM, placed third in the elite long jump at the weekend's Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut. His second jump of 25 feet, 8 1/4 inches took the early lead. But JC Stevenson of USC reached 26-5 in the third round to wind-up with the gold medal.

Smith is currently ranked No. 8 in the USA in 2024 following his 26-4 1/4 (8.03 meters) jump at the USATF Indoor Championships in February. He is one of only a dozen Americans who has jumped over 8 meters this season and is looking for an Olympic Games berth at the USA Olympic Trials in June at Eugene, Oregon.