Cougars Men's Team Takes Second at WSC Inland Meet

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

LANCASTER, Calif. — College of the Canyons men's track & field finished runner-up at the Western State Conference (WSC) Inland Meet at Antelope Valley College on Friday to represent the program's top team result of the season.

Canyons claimed the top spot in eight events on the day and finished second in four more.

The Cougars were especially strong in the sprint events with freshman Lavell Bailey winning both the 100m (11.04) and 200m (22.38). Same for Jacore Johnson in the 400m (48.65). Both also factored into COC's relay results.

The combination of Delon Buncio, Troy Chairez, Jeremiah Brown and Johnson was clocked at 3:29.97 in the 4x400m relay to also win that event.

The team of Buncio, Tony Collier, Andrew Mercado and Bailey took second in the 4x100m at 42.95.

In addition to his work on the relay teams, Buncio had another strong day by winning both the 400h (55.59) and javelin (51.56m/169' 2"). He also took third in the long jump (6.39m/20' 11.75"), finishing just behind fellow Cougar Andrew Mercado in the runner-up spot (6.44m/21' 1.5").

Buncio's time in the 400h is the 11th fastest in the state this season, and the top mark by a WSC student-athlete.

Timothy Sterkel added a win in the 1500m (4:04.97) and finished third in the 800m (1:58.98) to give Canyons another boost.

In the throws it was freshman Jordan Palmer, who continues to dominate the field, winning the shotput with a mark of 14.20m/46' 7.25". His throw easily beat the second-place throw of 13.04/46' 7.25". Palmer was also second in the discus (40.45m/132' 8").

Canyons tallied 138 event points to trail meet winner Glendale College at 149. Bakersfield (102) was third followed by Santa Monica (92) and host AVC (51).

COC's women's team took the top two spots in the 1500m with Amanda Finn (11:46.33) winning the event, followed closely by runner-up Samantha Bell (12:04.34).

Tatiana Smith took second in both the 100m (12.75) and 200m (26.15). She also ran as part of the 4x400 relay team that included Brianna Helsley, Celeste Gonzalez and Angelina Maldonado and finished runner-up at a time of 4:29.63.

Helsley was second in the 400m (1:03.21) and Jamie Araki was runner-up in the javelin (14.08m/46'2").

Bakersfield (160) won the meet with Santa Monica (106), AVC (76), Canyons (66) and Glendale (54) slotting into the next four spots.

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.