By Joe Snyder
El Camino College’s men’s and women’s track and field teams had strong showings in its own Dave Shannon Invitational last Friday and Saturday at Murdock Stadium II.
It was former Serra High jumping standout Raelyn Pleasant that led the way. Pleasant won the women’s long jump and triple jumps at 17 feet, 3.5 inches and 36-11.75, in order. Pleasant is a cousin of the Cavaliers’ former record-setting sprinter Roderick Pleasant, who is now competing in football and track and field at UCLA.
Jadeyn Skefich also had a fine performance by winning the women’s 5,000-meter run clocking 18 minutes and 9.64 seconds. Skefich also finished third in the 1,500 meters in 4:56.65.
The Lady Warriors also had Isla Gonzalez win the high jump with a leap of 4-5. El Camino had a one-two finish in that event as teammate Siobhan Baltizar was second at 4-1.25. Tillianna Wakefield-Carl placed second in the pole vault at 11-6.25, but was first for community college finishers.
For the men, the Warriors had a second through fifth place finish in the javelin. Finishing second overall but first for community colleges was Gunner Perez with a throw of 135-10. Taking third, fourth and fifth, (second, third and fourth for community colleges) respectively, were Laughton Scott (134-4), Eric Nash (132-7) and Joshua Radke (125-3).
Jacob Huberman finished third in the shot put at 41-3 and was fourth in the hammer (138-9). Shot puts in college and beyond use 16-pound balls compared to the 12-pound shot put in high school.
ECC’s 4×400 relay placed second behind South Bay rival Los Angeles Harbor College with a time of 3:25.47, losing by .1 of a second to the Seahawks, who won the race timing 3:25.37. Runners with the Warriors included Daniel Reamer, Cire Younger, Trevaun Green and Gunner Perez. Harbor’s team included Alejandro Herrera, Andrew Aleyre, Santiago Barrios and Junior Delgado.
Perez took third in the 110-meter-high hurdles in 15.71. Doyun Kim was third in the 1,500 clocking 4:16.3. Kim is a former Torrance High distance standout.
El Camino competes in the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego on Friday and Saturday.
ECC will host the South Coast Conference Championships with the prelims on April 21 and the finals on April 25.
The Southern California Championships are on May 9 at Bakersfield College’s Memorial Stadium and the State Championships on May 15 and 16 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.
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North High baseball team splits games
North Torrance High’s baseball team split two Pioneer League games with Wiseburn-DaVinci High from El Segundo last week.
At North on March 25, the Saxons rolled over the Wolves 9-2. At Lawndale High under the lights last Friday night, Wiseburn-DaVinci edged North 5-4.
At North, the Saxons were sparked by Josiah Reed who went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in. The Saxons broke the game open scoring five runs in the bottom of the second inning, highlighted by Reed’s two-run double.
North added three more runs in the fifth behind an RBI double by Shane Yamamoto and a run-scoring base hit from Lucas Blackwood.
Saxon starting pitcher Shoata Saito pitched three innings of shutout ball limiting the Wolves to one hit.
North plays a non-league game at cross town rival West Torrance next Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. The Saxons host the Warriors next Wednesday at the same time. West is currently in the Bay League where it is 0-6 after a pair of losses to front-running Palos Verdes (6-0 in league) last week.
Serra remains winless in the Del Rey League with shutout losses at home to Pasadena La Salle 15-0 and 4-0 at Arcadia Regional Park.
With the Spring Break, the Cavaliers played a non-league game at Maywood Center of Enriched Studies last Tuesday. Serra visits Culver City today at 3:15 p.m. and Torrance next Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. The Cavaliers, then, visit Rolling Hills Prep at Navy Field in Harbor City on April 10 at 3:15 p.m. before resuming Del Rey at Bishop Amat in La Puente on April 15 at 3 p.m.
Gardena High’s baseball team came through with an 11-5 win over King-Drew Medical Magnet in the Dennis Gilbert Spring Break Classic on Monday at the Urban Youth Baseball Academy in Compton.
Jesse Aguayo had a big game going 3-for-4 with three runs batted in. At first base on defense, he had an unassisted double play. Aguayo came in relief in the seventh inning getting the final two batters out.
Chris Alvarez added a two-run triple.
The Panthers played two more games in the classic. Last Tuesday, they played Roybal Learning Center and on Wednesday against Sotomayer.
Gardena opens the Marine League at home against Carson next Wednesday at 3 p.m.
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Torrance softball blows by North
Torrance High’s softball won its Bay League opener over host cross town rival North Torrance 6-1 last Friday.
The Tartars, who improved to 12-9 overall, had balanced hitting but had four hitters combine to go 8-for-16.
Winning pitcher Mia Gomez hurled a complete game seven-hitter using a combination of the screwball and curveball.
Torrance scored once in the top of the first inning on a run-scoring base hit by Leslie Horadner but broke the game with four runs in the fourth. It started when Horadner singled, Gomez walked and both advanced on a double steal. Horadner scored on a sacrifice bunt by Marilyn Rodriguez. Gomez scored on a single from Hailey Reynosa. Miley Guerrero added a two-run single.
North scored its only run on a sacrifice bunt from Gianna Quezeda scoring Corina Alvillar.
Saxon starting pitcher Isis Jones allowed three runs on five hits through 3 1/3 innings. She had four strikeouts.
The loss dropped the Lady Saxons’ Bay record to 1-1.
In a non-league game Saturday at Port of Los Angeles High in San Pedro, the Saxons won 7-1.
North’s next game is a non-league contest at home Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. The Saxons resume league at South Torrance High on April 10 at 3:15 p.m.
Torrance hosts West Torrance on April 14 at 5 p.m.
Gardena softball has done well with the bat, but has struggled with its pitching. Despite scoring 16 runs in a non-league game at Santee High in Downtown L.A., the Lady Panthers fell to the Falcons 26-16 on March 13.
Two days earlier at Gardena, the Panthers rolled over Hawkins High from the L.A.-Crenshaw District 26-9.
Gardena’s next game won’t be until April 13 when it begins the Marine League at home against always powerful San Pedro High beginning at 3:15 p.m.
Serra is struggling at 0-4 with all losses lopsided. In its last game last Thursday at home, the Cavaliers fell to St. Genevieve from Panorama City 12-3 in Santa Fe League play.
Serra hosts Sacred Heart of Jesus from L.A. on April 14 at 3:15 p.m.
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