Gillis & Fleming guide Gauchos at OEC meet
The Saddleback women's track & field team was in action on Friday, competing against a pair of Orange Empire Conference teams at Orange Coast College. The Gauchos were led by thrower Anna Gillis and runner Sara Fleming, who both won two events and set some personal highs along the way.
Gillis (pictured) had a personal record on her second throw when she flinged the hammer 162'8". It was over four feet further than her previous high set at the Riverside meet a month ago. Gillis' throw also moved her into second place in the state, just three inches behind De Anza College thrower Emily Hallett.
Gillis wasn't finished, setting a personal best in the discus throw when she finished first with a toss of 138'7" on her second throw. Her throw was 1'4" longer than her previous high set at the Southern California Finals last spring and was the third longest throw in the state this season.
In addition to her two first place finishes, Gillis finished in fourth in the shot put with a heave of 10.78 meters, which was good enough for the 28th best throw in the state this season.
Joining Gillis as a two-time winner was distance runner Sara Fleming, who captured first place in both the 800 meters and 1,500 meters on Friday. Fleming set personal bests in both events, running the 800 meters in 2:20.06 and the 1,500 meters in 4:51.36. Her time in the 800 meters ranks sixth in the state this season while she moved all the way up to No. 4 in the 1,500 meters.
Joining Fleming with personal bests in both events was Megan Good, who finished second in both the 800 meters and 1,500 meters. Good's time in the 800 meters (2:21.05) was the eighth best time in the state this spring while her time in the 1,500 meters (5:03.30) ranks No. 15.
Another winner for Saddleback on Friday was Natalie Kron, who captured first place in the javelin while finishing third in both the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. Kron's toss in the javelin (100'1") was a personal best and ranks 14th in the state.
Other top-5 finishes for Saddleback included Holly Allen, Samantha Perez, Samantha Chasteler and Lele Goldtrap. Allen was second in the pole vault (2.63 meters) while Perez set a personal best in the hammer throw while finishing third (142'6"). Perez also was also fifth in the discus (99'7") while Chasteler finished fourth in the hammer (129'6"). Goldtrap set a personal best when finishing third in the discus (105'1") and finished fifth in the shot put (9.15 meters).
Saddleback will be back in action at the Orange Empire Conference prelims on April 20.