2018 Ventura College Track & Field Team News
Milestones were in abundance Friday and Saturday as the Pirates' men's and women's track and field teams ended their 2018 season at the CCCAA State Championships hosted by Bakersfield College. The first milestone was sophomore Valexsia Droughn's title-winning run in the 100-meters, followed closely by her silver medal-winning performance in the 200. Meanwhile,Darrell Handy Johnson provided the second milestone capturing the state championship in the men's high jump.
Five Pirate track and field athletes punched their tickets to the CCCAA State Championships with their performances at the Southern California Regional Finals Saturday at San Diego Mesa College. Darrell Handy-Johnson led the pack qualifying in three events while his brother Terrell Handy-Johnson qualified in two. Kamar Wilson rounded out the men's qualifiers. Valexsia Droughn will compete at state in two events for the VC women while Marissa Gonzales also qualified for state for the Pirates.
The VC men's and women's track and field teams traveled to the Southern California Preliminaries Saturday in San Diego. Nineteen athletes made the trip south with 14 Pirates earning a return trip for the SoCal Finals on Saturday May 12 at San Diego Mesa College. Leading the charge for Ventura was Valexsia Droughn on the women's side along with Darrell Handy-Johnson, Terrell Handy-Johnson and Kamar Wilson.
The Ventura College men's and women's track teams hosted the Western State Conference Championships for the first time since the all-weather track was installed at the VC Sportsplex 13 years ago. The Pirate women took the silver team trophy placing second behind champion West Los Angeles while the men finished in fourth place overall in the highly contested meet. Valexsia Droughn led the VC women with a pair of individual gold medal performances and was part of a first place relay team. Darrell-Handy-Johnson won the lone gold medal for the Pirate men, taking first in the high jump, winning a tie-breaker against his twin brother Terrell Handy-Johnson, who claimed the silver.
The Ventura College men's track and field team sits in second place, one-half point out of first, and the VC women are in fifth, just six points from the top spot, following the Western State Conference Preliminaries held Friday at Santa Monica College. The men's team qualified 15 athletes for the WSC Finals ,and the women advanced 11 to the championship meet that will be held Friday April 27 at the Ventura College Sportsplex.
A week before the Western State Conference Championships, the Ventura College track and field team sent a skeleton crew to Santa Barbara City College for the annual Santa Barbara Easter Open. Even though several Pirate athletes were either resting or training through this competition, It did not deter David Lopez from making an impact as he posted a personal record in claiming first place in the 100 meters. Darrell Handy-Johnson claimed gold in the high jump and the Pirates also had several top-3 performances at La Playa Stadium.
For the second week in a row Pirate sprinter, Valexsia Droughn literally "ran away" from the sprint fields at the Vaquero Invitational, hosted by Glendale College. She bested her own school record in the 100 meters, and also ran for gold in the 200 for the double win. Fabiola Gomez-Flores won the 5000 meters in her first time running the event. For the Pirate men, Jordan Gibson brought home gold in the 200 meters while Darrell Handy-Johnson and twin brother Terrell Handy-Johnson claimed first place in the high jump and triple jump, respectively.
The Ventura College men's and women's track and field teams both placed second Friday at the Western State Conference Coastal meet held in San Luis Obispo at Cuesta College, led by double sprint wins by Jordan Gibson on the men's side and Valexia Droughn for the women. Sandra Harness earned 36 points individually in five separate events, including a first place finish in the high jump, while Darrell Handy-Johnson also claimed gold in the high jump for Ventura.
The Pirate track teams visited Cal State Northridge Saturday for the annual Northridge Invitational, a meet featuring community college, NCAA Division I and post-collegiate athletes competing side by side. The high water mark for the day for Ventura was shared by Nikolas Ramirez and Sandra Harness as they garnered the only first-place finishes for the Pirates. Ramirez won gold in the javelin with a personal best mark while Harness won her first ever 400m hurdle race.
The Ventura College Pirate track teams weathered cold and, at times, torrential rain, producing one school record and three changes to the all-time lists at the Occidental Distance Carnival and Spring Break Classic on Friday in Eagle Rock. Valexsia Droughn set a new school record in the women's 100 meters while Jordan Gibson cracked VC's Top-10 list in the men's 100 meters. Marissa Gonzales also joined the top-10 party in the women's 5000 meters, as did Sandra Harness in the 100-meter hurdles.
In a meet conventional wisdom thought would get cancelled due to frigid temperatures and steady rain, Ventura's men's and women's track and field teams performed at a high level Friday in the annual Moorpark Open Invitational. The adverse conditions did not deter Serenity Valoaga as she scored wins in the discus and shot put events and lead the team as the only double winner of the day. Karen Reyes (400m), Sandra Harness (long jump), Krystal Tapia (hammer), Jordan Gibson (400m), and Daniel Burquez (javelin) rounded out the Pirate first-place finishes.
The Ventura College women's track and field team ran away from the competition Friday in the six-team Western State Conference North meet while the men's team came in a close fourth at the VC Sportsplex. The Pirate women totaled 170 points on the day, ahead of second place Santa Barbara with 102. The men, meanwhile, scored 107 points, just 39 off the pace of first place Cuesta. The women were led by Sandra Harness and Marissa Gonzales while Jordan Gibson led the Ventura men.
Ventura's 4x200m relay team of Max Carmona, Richard Celendon, Jordan Gibson, and Kamar Wilson highlighted the Pirates' performances at the Western State conference relays in Bakersfield Friday, turning in a school record mark of 1:31.59, leading 16 top three finishes for VC. Karen Reyes won in the 400 hurdles and Serenity Valoaga took first in the shot put for the VC women. Meanwhile, Kamar Wilson took home gold in the high jump.
Eden Hahn and Jordan Gibson started the Pirates' 2018 track and field season in fine style by dominating the short sprints in the Battle of the Regions track meet hosted by Bakersfield College on Friday. Both sprinters finished first in the 100 and 200 meters, achieving the SoCal auto qualifying standards in the process. As an added bonus, Gibson's 200-meter time of 21.72 also met the "B" standard needed for advancement to the state championships in May.
Ventura College head track and field and men's cross country coach Tony Veney has been recognized by USA Track & Field. The Pirate mentor was awarded the Fred Wilt Coach/Educator of the Year Award by USATF for 2017. This award recognizes a coach that has a distinguished record, which includes sustained, exceptional performance and is presented annually to recognize one individual who has exemplified passion and leadership nationally for the promotion of USATF Coaching Education.