Gauchos run 8th at SoCal Finals
The Saddleback women's track & field team finished in eighth place at the CCCAA Southern California Regional Championships on Saturday in Riverside. The Gauchos were led by a strong finish in the 800 meters.
Saddleback had a top-10 finish at the SoCal Finals for the third straight year and fifth time in the past six year on Saturday. They can thank the 800 meter duo of Megan Good and Dana McGrath, who finished 2-3 in the finals and look like a strong bet to have top-5 finishes at the state meet next week in San Mateo.
Good and McGrath led for most of the race before being overtaken by West Los Angeles College's Brenda Rosales-Coria, who owns the top time in the state this season. Good finished second with a time of 2:14.35, which was just an eyelash off her career-best time of 2:14.25 at the Oxy Distance Carnival in early March. McGrath was third in a time of 2:14.57, shaving 0.49 seconds off her personal-best.
Another with a sensational finish at the finals was Rylee Kerr, who finished fourth in the 400 meters. Kerr took 0.39 seconds off of her personal-best with a time of 58.50 on Saturday to qualify for the state meet. Her time in the finals was the 10th best time in the state this season, and earned the Gauchos five team points.
Good, McGrath and Kerr then teamed up with Alycia Turner for a third place finish in the 4 x 400 relay. The quartet finished in 3:58.87, which was the fourth fastest time in the state this season. It easily eclipsed a season-best for Saddleback and was the second fastest time in Gaucho history (3:53.50, 1986).
Another earning team points for Saddleback was pole vaulter Amanda Amundson, who finished in seventh place at the finals. Amundson cleared 3.00 meters on her fifth vault of the day. It equaled her second-best vault of the year.
Saddleback finished in a tie for eighth place with 27 points at the meet, which tied them for the fourth best finish at the SoCal Finals in program history. Saddleback was only six points away from a top-5 finish on Saturday.