Pirate Women Earn WSC Honors

On the heels of earning their first Western State Conference team championship in 38 years, the Pirates' women's track and field team also claimed the conference's two top individual awards. VC' Stina Johansson and Charlotte Allison were named the WSC's Female Track and Field Athletes of the Year, respectively by the conference coaches following the season.

Stina (Sweden) almost single-handedly willed the title to the Pirates, claiming winning five golds. After winning the 10k on the first weekend of the championships, she proceeded to capture four golds in one day in an impressive an individual performance. She conserved her way to a win in the 3000m steeplechase in 11:44.56, winning by nearly 15 seconds, before capturing the 1500m with a mark of 4:50.57 less than 30 minutes later. The UC Santa Barbara signee then won the 800m with a time of 2:22.14, the eighth fastest time in school history and capped off the day with a win in the 5k, breaking the tape in 18:35.37, besting the competition by over a minute. For her efforts Johansson was named the WSC Female Track Athlete of the Year.

Allison (La Reina) also had an outstanding WSC championship, winning two individual golds. As the defending champion in both the high jump and long jump, she defended her WSC titles and won both the high jump (5'3") and long jump (17' 10 1/2").  She also finished with the silver medal in the triple jump on the second weekend of the championships. Allison was named the WSC's Female Field Athlete of the Year.

As a team, the Pirate women amassed 11 individual golds en rout to posting 164 points to claim the crown iover second-place Cuesta with 146 points. Bakersfield was third with 123 points. It was VC's first conference title in women's track and field since 1984.