For three decades, our goal has been to help create a team atmosphere of positive attitudes with athletes that are attempting to improve on the traits that make "one" a winner in life, in the classroom and on the athletic field. So far, our expectations are working.

The Hartnell men's track team has won the coast conference championship 14 out of the last 15 years and since 1970, 27 out of 33 years. The Hartnell women's track team has won the coast conference championship 12 out of the last 25 years. During the past 5 years, 70% of the Hartnell track sophomores have transferred to 4-year colleges. Since 1990, 21 track athletes have received track scholarships to NCAA Division I colleges and 5 others to Division II or III.
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Panther Track and Field in the News

Hartnell Fares Well at State Meet
Monterey Herald
Staff Writer

Rewriting his own school record in the discus, Cesar Puga finished third at the state community college track and field championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk. A freshman at Hartnell College, Puga uncorked the discus 167 feet, 8 inches, breaking the record for the third time this year. The old mark had stood for 30 years. Puga, an Alisal graduate, heaved the shot a career-best 48-4½ to finish sixth. He also placed 10th in the hammer at 146-9.

Sophomore Oliver Shabram shaved nearly a second off his season best in the 400 intermediate hurdles, finishing fourth for the second straight year in 53.66 seconds. The time was the eighth fastest mark ever run at Hartnell.

Battling 100-plus degree heat, Enrique Lopez raced to a fourth place finish in the 5,000 (15:30.9) and was 12th in the 1,500 (4:10.45). Teammate Danny Tapia was sixth in the 5,000 (15:40.2) and eighth in the 10,000 (34:39.3) while Rigo Vasquez as 10th in the 10,000.

Cameron McFadden became the first Panther to slip under 15 seconds in the 110 high hurdles as a freshman (14.86), finishing seventh overall. Jonathan Nguyen was seventh in the pole vault (13-6).

Sophomore Deleynna Martinez closed out her career at Hartnell, sailing 34 feet in the triple jump.

Hartnell Track 2nd at Norcals
The Californian
By George Watkins

With a mix of distance runners, hurdlers and field-event athletes, the Hartnell College men’s track team placed second at the NorCal championship meet this past weekend at Modesto College. It was the best finish for the Hartnell men in eight years. Overall, Hartnell will send nine athletes to the state championship meet Friday and Saturday at Cerritos College in Southern California.

Hartnell began its trophy charge last week as three runners placed in the top six in the men’s 10,000-meter run. Freshman Danny Tapia was the NorCal champion at 31:54, followed in third place by his teammate Enrique Lopez at 32:02.

On Friday at Modesto Community College, Jesus Cabrera of Hartnell took second in the 3K steeplechase in a all-time list mark 10:02.3. Lopez, a sophomore who had to overcome early-season sickness and then kidney stones, earned his first NorCal track title with a time of 4:01.8 in the 1,500-meter race. Tapia was third in 4:03 and was the Norcal champion in the 5,000-meter at 15:23. Lopez was right behind at 15:26.

Cameron McFadden advanced to the state meet by taking third in the 110 high hurdles at 15.08. Oliver Shabram was third in the 400 hurdles at 54.81.

Cesar Puga was fourth in the hammer throw at 147-11. In the discus, he upset Tim Greene of Fresno City College with a toss of 164-09, a Hartnell record.Puga also took second in the shot put at 47-4. He earned Hartnell 19 points in the team battle.

Jonathon Nguyen of Hartnell, whose season best was 14-0 in the pole vault, brought his even-better on the right day as his winning mark of 14-4 outdistanced the second-place finisher by seven inches. The former North Salinas High School athlete also qualified for the state meet in the decathlon.

For the Hartnell women, Deleynna Martinez was fourth in the triple jump at 35-01.25. The women’s 4x400 relay team was eighth at 4:12.

Track & Field: Men Win Coast Conference Championship; Women Place Fourth
By Christopher Zepeda

April 28, 2008--For the eighth time in ten years, the Hartnell College men's track and field team came out on top of the Coast Conference at the championship meet. The men's score of 200 points was well ahead of second place West Valley College (155) and City College San Francisco (152) at the 2008 meet hosted by Monterey Peninsula College.

The Hartnell men have dominated the Coast Conference since 1970, winning 31 track and field titles.

In this year's edition, the Hartnell distance runners Oliver Shabram and Cesar Puga provided much of the muscle to secure another team title. In the 10k run, Hector Aleman led a top five sweep with his win in 33:53, along with Eric Palmer taking a scoring 8th place (35:03).

Frosh Jesus Cabrera took second in the 3K steeplechase (10:06) again with Palmer picking up points in 5th (10:33). At 1500 meters, soph Enrique Lopez overcame his recent battle with kidney stones to earn his second consecutive 1500 crown, winning in 4:02.0. Teammate Danny Tapia was 3rd in 4:04.2, with Rigo Vasquez earning a team point in 8th (4:16). Lopez and frosh Antonio Leal finished 6th and 8th in the 800 meters.

In the 5K run, Panthers swept the top three spots with Vasquez earning the win (16:10) and Cabrera coming in at 7th (16:34).

All told, the distance runners provided 94 points to the team total. Shabram started his championship run on Wednesday by taking fourth in the pole vault. Saturday in the finals, the former Carmel HS standout scored team points by winning his first conference 400 hurdles title (54.52), placing 5th in the 400 (50.88), 4th in the high jump (5'11"), and as a member of the 5th place 1600 meter relay team.

Puga had an amazing outcome for a freshman, taking conference titles in the shot put (45'7"), discus (156'7"), and hammer throw (153'6"). Sophomore Abram Silva followed Puga with placings of 3rd in the hammer, 4th in the discus, and 8th in the shot put.

For the Lady Panthers, 92 points was good for fourth place in the team battle, but was well ahead of local rival Monterey Peninsula, who finished 8th with 53 points. The Lady Panthers were struck a devastating blow when frosh Lauren McCallon secured a broken fifth metatarsal at the Ed Adams meet April 12th. McCallon was ranked in the top five in conference in the shot put, discus, and hammer and would have provided enough team points to push eventual champion Laney College of Oakland.

Deleynna Martinez was Hartnell's lone conference champion, taking the triple jump with a season best 35'2.50". She narrowly missed the high jump title, taking 2nd at 4'10". Soph Patty Avila took 4th in both the 400 meters (60.13) and 400 hurdles (67.91).  Yvette De la Rosa scored in three distance events. De la Rosa was 3rd in both the steeplechase (14:03) and 10K run (47:15) and 7th in the 5K (22:51).
Frosh Dominga Arzate was 4th in the 10K and 5th in the 5K. The women's 4x400 recorded a season best 4:13 mark.

The Hartnell track and field teams will travel north to the College of San Mateo on Friday for the Norcal Trials meet. The men's 10,000 meter run will be contested as final with Hartnell sending Danny Tapia, Enrique Lopez, Hector Aleman, Jesus Cabrera, Rigo Vasquez, and Eric Palmer to the line all looking to pick up Norcal team points.

To read about the results of the conference prelims, see our news section at http://www.hartnell.edu/news/

 

Puga breaks Hartnell mark
The Californian
3/22/08
Staff report

Cesar Puga caught a perfect crosswind in the discus competition Thursday at the Bill Campbell-West Valley Open to set a Hartnell College record at 160-feet, 11-inches. His mark passed Jeff Passamin's 158-8 throw from 2000. The throw also moves Puga into the top three in Northern California behind Fresno City's duo of Tim Greene and K.P. Singh.

Also performing well in the throws was Hartnell freshman Lauren McCallon. She added another 10 feet to her hammer to move to third best all-time in Hartnell history. Her mark of 121-6 makes her the sixth-best female hammer thrower in NorCal. She also had a season-best in the discus (102-5) and was the highest-placing community college athlete in the shot put (36-2 1/2).

On the track, Cameron McFadden recorded a season-best 15.39 in the 110 high hurdles to place second to Coast Conference foe Jonevan Desimone of MPC. Sophomore Enrique Lopez dropped his season best time in the 1500 meter run to 4:07.84. Former North Salinas standout Anthony Leal narrowly missed a sub-two-minute clocking in the 800 with his 2:00.03. Newcomer Jazmine Suarez earned a NorCal provisional qualifying mark in her first run in the 400 hurdles (1:16.31).

Sophomore Johnny Nguyen moved back into the Coast Conference lead in the pole vault with his season-best effort of 13-3.Deleynna Martinez jumped up to the second spot in conference with a triple jump of 32-5 1/2.

SCHOOL RECORD AT JACK ALBIANI MEET
THE CALIFORNIAN
03/19/08

 

At the Albiani Invitational at Modesto College, former North County High product Danny Tapia established a school record in the men's 5,000 meter run at 14:53.73. His time dipped under the former record of 14:53.9 set by Tony Roman in 1992. The time is the third fastest in the state this year for community college athletes. Tapia also finished third in the 1500 meters with a season-best 4:05.98. Teammate Enrique Lopez recorded NorCal qualifying marks in both the 1500 (4:10.41) and 5000 (15:45.82). Rigo Vasquez (16:03.58) and Jesus Cabrera (16:14.38) moved into the top 10 in NorCal with their marks.

In the men's javelin, Chase Knisley placed second and moved into the second spot in Coast Conference with a toss of 145-8. Cesar Puga led in the throws, taking top honors in the shot put (43-10.5 and second in the discus (151-9. First-year assistant coach Lyle Weese was a double winner in the 1500 (3:54.49) and 5000 (14:44.09) open race, in which he competed unattached.

For the women, Deleynna Martinez qualified for the NorCal meet in two events with solid marks in the high jump and triple jump. Martinez high jumped 4-8 and triple jumped 31-5. Sophomore Taide Marquez squeezed under the Norcal provisional mark with her first run at 800 meters (2:32.60). Marquez also helped the women's 4x400 relay team to record a season-best 4:21.70.