Griffith Shines in Rain Soaked Vaquero Invitational

The Ventura College men's and women's track and field teams braved the elements in the First ever Vaquero Classic. Tristan Griffith overcame the wet and blustery conditions at Glendale College to remain unbeaten against conference opponents Saturday. As has been his race model, Griffith trailed up to the half-way mark of the 400 meters, then made his customary move with 200 meters to go and was never caught, winning by almost a full second. His time of 48.80 was not his best, but competing well is always the first thing in mind.

Joining Griffith in the winners circle, were Sedona Williams who tied for first with two other competitors in the high jump. Sam Boyle took home a third in the 5k, which saw the first half of the race run in a torrential downpour. Although that did little to deter him as he ran a personal best of 15:23, four seconds faster than his previous, and inched closer to the 'A' state meet standard of 15:13.

Danielle Colvin placed second in the long jump. Tiara Litonjua placed fifth in her first open 800, but her time of 2:22 moved her to the sixth time in school history and the fastest 800 run at VC in five years.

"I am glad we had to deal with the elements today" commented head coach Tony Veney. "These are the very conditions we could face later this month at the conference finals, and for the most part we stepped up." The Pirates have a week to train before they travel to College of the Canyons for the WSC Prelims Friday Apr. 22. Field events start at 11:00 am and the first running event is scheduled for 1:00 pm.