Track & Field: Long Beach qualifies for 18 events at SoCal Preliminaries

The Long Beach City College track and field program will be well represented at this Saturday's (May 4) Southern California Championships preliminaries meet at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster. LBCC women have qualified for 10 events while the Viking men will make appearances in eight events following last week's South Coast Conference Championship finals at Mt. San Antonio College.

Heading the list for the women is freshman Jaylynn Branch. She'll have a busy Saturday at AVC competing in four events at the SoCal prelims. At the SCC finals, Branch was second in the 400 meters at 57.54 and finished fifth in the 200 with a time of 25.51.

Branch also will compete as part of the LBCC 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams with Jennifer Reese, Aliyah Monsalvatge, and Ashley Peoples. The 4x100 squad ran a qualifying time of 49.70 while the 4x400 team was fifth at 4:15.52 at last week's conference finals to advance.

Thrower Esmeralda Godoy was also a double-qualifier after taking seventh in the discus (31.23m) and ninth in the hammer throw (35.51m).

Below is the complete list of Long Beach women qualifiers along with their finish at the SCC finals:
Jaylynn Branch – 200, 5th, 25.51; 400 2nd, 57.54
Aliyah Monsalvatge – 200, 8th, 25.81
Ashley Peoples - 400, 5th, 59.47
Aqeelah Muhammad - 100 hurdles, 7th, 15.47
4x100 Relay (Jaylynn Branch, Jennifer Reese, Aliyah Monsalvatge, Ashley Peoples) 1st, 49.70
4x400 Relay (Jaylynn Branch, Ashley Peoples, Jennifer Reese, Aliyah Monsalvatge) 5th, 4:15.52
Michaelah Brown - Shot Put, 5th, 11.30
Esmeralda Godoy, Discus, 7th, 31.23; Hammer, 9th, 35.51

Topping the list of men heading to Lancaster is double-qualifier Christian Bassman. He earned a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 100 (10.89) and 200 (21.74) at the conference finals.

The 4x400-meter relay team of Jammie Collins, Cameron White, Kiree Jabril, and Shakir Smith also moves on after a third-place finish with a time of 3:20.68. Jabril will also compete in the 400 meters after running 48.50 last week for fourth place.

Below is the complete list of Long Beach men qualifiers along with their finish at the SCC finals:
Christian Bassman, 100, 5th, 10.89; 200, 5th, 21.74
Kiree Jabril, 400, 4th, 48.50
Justin Weaver, 1500, 5th, 4:03.63
Malcolm Finney, 110 Hurdles, 6th, 15.19
Jammie Collins, 400 Hurdles, 4th, 55.45
4x400 Relay (Jammie Collins, Cameron White, Kiree Jabril, Shakir Smith), 3rd, 3:20.68
Cesar Perez, Discus, 7th, 35.33

The Vikings will look to advance to the Southern California Championship finals on May 11, also at Antelope Valley. The 2013 track and field season will then come to an end following the CCCAA State Championship meet at College of San Mateo on May 17-18.

Photo by Dean Lofgren