Cougars Roar at Long Beach Invitational
Canyons combined to win seven events and finished second in five more, with the Cougars boasting two dual-event winners.
By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director
LONG BEACH — The Cougars combined to win seven events, and finished runner-up in five more, during the Long Beach City College Invitational on Friday, Feb. 28.
College of the Canyons fared well across the board, registering wins in sprint, distance and field events led by freshmen Gaetano Ferrera and David Salazar who each emerged as duel-event winners.
Ferrera took home wins in both the shot put (14.63m / 48' 0") and discus events (42.32m / 138' 10"). Salazar placed first in the 800m (1:58.42) and 3,000m (9:26.61).
Sophomore Hasani Fields narrowly missed out on being a dual winner, taking first in the 100m (11.11) and then placing second in the 200m (22.23).
Julius Herrera won the 110h (15:36) event for the second time in three meets.
Other second-place finishers for the Cougars' men's team included Azad Markosian in the shot put (12.67m / 41' 7") and Corbin Lucas in the high jump (1.73m / 5'8"). Markosian, who starred on COC's 2019 conference championship football team, also took fifth in the discus (33.38m / 109' 6"). Meanwhile, Lucas also placed fifth in the pole vault (3.30m / 10' 10").
COC's men's 4x100 relay team finished second, with the combination of Evann Adams, Anthony Stewart, Fields and Demajay Williams clocking in at a time of 44.13.
Adams also took fourth in the 400m (51.43), while Terek Khezri was fourth in the 3,000m (9:40.81). Cole Shirakata was a fifth-place finisher in the 100h (16.78).
Lady Cougars freshman Lauren Franco won the 800m (2:39.71) to lead the women's team as the sole event winner.
Megan Carbajal finished as runner-up in both the long jump (4.75m / 15' 7") and javelin (21.17m / 69' 5").
In the women's distance medley relay the team of Paris Camacho, Carbajal, Franco and Samantha Breitbach was second with a time of 14:05.24.
Jaszaya Pardue finished third in the 100m (13.21).
Canyons will return to Long Beach on Friday, March 6, to compete at the annual Beach Opener hosted by California State University, Long Beach. Events are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
