Women's Track and Field

Alicia Parker had outstanding marks in both the shot put and discus at the Foothill Conference Relays

Opposing teams within the Foothill Conference took notice of the increasing number of blue and gold as the Mesa Olympians displayed a successful Foothill Conference Preview in Lancaster over the weekend. Earning 5th overall, the women’s team had a remarkable day with solid results ranging from the various throwing, jumping, sprinting, and distance events the preview had to offer. Alicia Parker had notable throws in her events as she earned 2nd place in the shot put with a throw of 30’5” and 5th in the discus with a throw of 86’7,” while teammate Nigua Smith earned 4th in the shot put with a toss of 28’11.75” and an impressive 3rd place with a mark of 97’9” in the discus. Moreover, in the long jump, Dana Felt had a solid early season leap of 14’7.75” as she placed 4th in the event.

Alongside the excitement from the field, the Lady Olympians similarly displayed many striking results on the track. Sprinting in their first 4x200m relay as a unit, Suarez, Felt, Davis, and Shirazi placed 3rd in the race with a finishing time of a 1:55.92, wheareas Niki Novak looked strong in the women’s 400m as she ran a 63.54 and finished 3rd. As for the distance team, outstanding performances were viewed as Suzanne Cornwell and Michelle Thompson earned 3rd and 4th place with times of 11:08.81 and 11:13.77 in the lengthy 3k.

Dana Felt contributed strong performances in the long jump, 4 x 100 relay, 60 meter and 200 meter events.

The Last Chance Meet at Azusa Pacific offered the San Diego Mesa ladies track team a chance to open the season with some spirited competition. Despite the absence of a number of team members due to injury or other early season plans, the team jumped in with some very competitive performances and a much needed chance to get some competition under their belts.

Mesa’s sprint and jump squad was outstanding, led by Dana Felt and Emily Shirazi. Both contributed legs on the winning 4 x 100 relay team which ran 54.46 seconds and looked good handing off the baton in an early season meet. Dana Felt was also Mesa’s top performer in the 60 meter and the Long Jump while Emily Shirazi produced the top time in the 200 meter event.

On the field, in addition to Felt’s performance in the long jump, Mesa also competed in the shot put with the top mark of 31’ 8” belonging to Niqua Smith. Next up for the team is the Foothill Conference Relays, to be held at Antelope Valley on Friday, February 26.

Full Results

Michelle Thompson, a Southern California regional finalist last year in the 1500 and 5000 meter events, returns to lead the team in 2010.

The Mesa track & field team opens the season this Saturday, February 20 at the Azusa Pacific Last Chance meet. After two years of leading the women’s cross country team, Renee Ross takes over as coach of the track & field program. Ross brings a wealth of experience to the job and that has had an immediate impact on the program even before the season begins as the team will be by far the largest it has fielded in years. With many of the athletes being new to the program Ross is excited this week because “it will give our new athletes a chance to compete and the coaching staff a chance to see how all of the new athletes compete”.

This year’s team will be lead by a coaching staff whose talents include an incredible amount of athletic achievements. The staff includes: Head Coach Renee Ross, an All-American while at San Diego State, who will lead the sprints; Thom Hunt, who has lead the distance program that has produced six state champions in the past three years of cross country and track; Jared Rome, an Olympian and World Championships team member in the discus who will coach the throws; Bashir Ramzy, an All-American at Texas A&M in four events who will coach the hurdles; Marcus Carroll, an NCAA finalist in both the long and triple jumps who will coach those events at Mesa; Karoline Koehler, an NCAA All-American at San Diego State who will coach the high jump.