The San Bernardino Valley College track team tested itself against a field featuring several four-year schools at the Mangrum Invitational at Cal State San Marcos on March 27, posting strong showings in a field dominated by four-year school athletes.
Tamia Hardwick continued her assault on the SBVC record book at the event. She took won the long jump, soaring to a best jump of 18 feet, 4.5 inches - five inches ahead of her nearest competitor. That jump put her in the top five marks all time in school history. In the high jump, she finished fifth, with a jump of 5 feet, 3 inches - also a top-five mark all time at SBVC.
A group of three distance runners took on a field of athletes from four-year schools in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, improving on their personal bests against the competition. Samuel Chavarria knocked 34 seconds off his personal best in the event, taking 12th with a time of 9 minutes, 52.67 seconds. His time is the sixth-fastest in the state this year, and fourth-fastest in Southern California. Diego Caldera dropped 26 seconds off his best time in the event, finishing at 10:14.87, while Noah Townsend wasn't too far behind at 10:19.75.
Callie Frias continued her improvement in the steeplechase as well. She was the only two-year school athlete in the event, posting a time of 12:23.51 for sixth place in her heat. She currently has the sixth fastest time in the state. Fellow distance runner Savannah Flores was the top community college finisher in the 1500 meters, posting a time of 4:58.20.
Luis Muniz - currently ranked 11th in Southern California - won his heat in the 400 meters, posting a time of 49.08 seconds, which gave him the ninth spot in the field of 35 runners. Teammate Oscar Hernandez was 12th in the field of 48 runners in the 800 meters, posting a time of 1:57.79. Jordan Carter finished third in the men's triple jump, posting a best mark of 45 feet, 4.5 inches.
Members of the team will split up this weekend, with most of the squad headed to the Moorpark Invitational on April 3. Five of the distance runners will be traveling to San Francisco State to compete at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic on Friday and Saturday.