Bobcats second at first conference meet

The Saddleback women's track & field team finished second at the first Orange Empire Conference meet of the season at Riverside City College on Friday.  The Bobcats won eight events on the day.

Saddleback had its first opportunity to see where it stood within the conference on Friday and found out they have a shot if they can keep improving throughout the season.  The Bobcats finished second to Orange Coast College with a handful of outstanding performances along the way.

Saddleback won eight events total, winning the 200 meters, 800 meters, 1,500 meters, 100 hurdles, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and hammer throw.

Olivia Knobbe and Jolie Robinson were responsible for winning two events apiece as Knobbe won the 800 meters and 1.500 meters while Robinson captured both the long jump and triple jump. 

Knobbe's time of 2:30.44 in the 800 meters was a personal best at Saddleback and currently ranks 13^th in the state.  She also won the 1,500 meters by over four seconds, crossing the finish line in 5:01.37.  It was another personal best for Knobbe, who ranks sixth in the state in the event.

Robinson has been a machine through three events this season and captured both of the jump events on Friday.  Robinson won the long jump with a leap of 5.37 meters on Friday and then set a personal best in the triple jump with a leap of 11.46 meters.  Robinson ranks first in the state in the long jump and second in the triple jump through three events. 

One of the best showings of the day came from Isabelle Teh, who captured a win in the pole vault.  Teh (pictured) cleared 3.41 meters (11'2.25") to win by more than 16 inches.  It was just a hair short of the performance a week earlier (11'2.5"), which has her ranked second in the state through three events. 

Maliyah Medley was off and running for a second time this season and captured a win in the 200 meters.  Medley crossed the finish line in 25.10 to achieve the "A" standard in winning by 0.73 seconds.  It was the first time Medley had run the 200 for Saddleback this season and was the second fastest time in the state.

The 100 hurdles had what could be considered a photo finish with Esther Parrish edging out teammate Shaelynn Barbieri for the win.  Parrish finished just 1/100^th of a second in front, crossing the finish line in 17.83.

The final win of the day came from Kianna Turner, who won the hammer throw with a toss of 37.43 meters (122'10").  It was a personal best for Turner by more than 10 feet and moved her up to 14^th in the state this season. 

Saddleback track & field will compete next at the Orange Empire Conference heptathlon/decathlon at Golden West College on March 9-10. 

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