Aztecs Track Claim Eight Region Titles at Region I Championships; Women's Team Place Second

The Pima Community College men's and women's track & field teams completed the NJCAA Region I Championships on Thursday at Mesa Community College and came away with four more region titles. The Aztecs took home eight total.

The women's team came away with the second place team trophy. They finished with a score of 206 points. Central Arizona College placed first with 309 points. Mesa Community College took third place with 149 while Paradise Valley Community College finished fourth with 70. Glendale Community College was fifth with 67 points.

The men's team placed third in the team standings and missed out on second place by one point. The Aztecs finished with 197 points. Mesa Community College placed first with 223.5 points while Central Arizona College was second with 198. Glendale placed third with 132.5 points and Paradise Valley Community College was fifth place with 77.

Sophomore Kelsey Montano (Tucson Magnet HS) took home the 3,000 meter steeplechase championship as she finished with a time of 11 minutes, 46.25 seconds. Sophomore Juliette Cossey (Sandra Day O'Connor HS) won the region title for the triple jump with a final jump of 12.03 meters (39 feet, 5.75 inches). Montano and Cossey gave the Aztecs 10 team points.

Sophomore Shalise Fernander (Flowing Wells HS) took second place in the 400 and 800 meter races. She finished the 400 meter race at 57.91 and the 800 meter race at 2:17.30 earning 16 team points. Freshman Hannah Bartz (Mountain View HS), who won the long jump region title on Tuesday, took second place in the 100 meter race with a time of 12.31. Freshman Katherine Loyd (Catalina HS) placed second in the 5,000 meter race with a time of 18:51.57. Bartz and Loyd earned another eight points each for the team. The 4x800 relay team of freshman Amber McCroskey (Buena HS), along with sophomores McKenna McGrath (St. David HS), Desire Montenegro (Sunnyside HS) and Shalise Fernander (Flowing Wells HS) earned second place with a time of 3:58.30. The relay team set a national qualifying time in the process.

Loyd also took third place in the 1,500 meter race and improved on her national qualifying time. She finished with a time of 4:59.07; an improvement from her previous mark of 5:00.86. Freshman Marissa Cotsonas (Mountain View HS) placed fourth in the 400 meter hurdles and set a national qualifying mark at 1:06.18.

In men's competition, sophomore Amanuel Logo (Catalina HS) won the 800 meter race with a time of 1:53.19  as he improved his national qualifying time as well (1:54.78). Logo also set another national qualifier in the 1,500 meter race. He took third place with a time of 3:59.32. Freshman Nicolas Sibley (Mountain Pointe HS) won the triple jump region championship as he finished with a jump of 14.21 meters (46-7.50). He also set a national qualifier in the process. Logo and Sibley earned 10 points for the Aztecs.

Freshman Isaiah Banks (Mountain Pointe HS) took second place in the triple jump with a jump of 13.48 meters (44-2.75) earning eight points for Pima.

Freshman Ryan Nimeny took fifth place in the 110 meter hurdles race with a time of 15.11; earning himself a national qualifying time.

Sophomore Tyler Johnson (Snowflake HS) and freshman Sam Shoultz (Corona del Sol HS) won region titles in the long jump and high jump respectively on Tuesday.

Other women's results:

Grecia Castillo-Villegas (CAS) – Third place in triple jump 11.12 meters (36-5.75) (six points)
Amber McCroskey (Buena HS) – Third place in 100 meters 12.50 (six points); Third place in 200 meters 25.62 (six points); Seventh place in 400 meters 1:02.40 (two points)
Jamie Holliday (Sahuaro HS) – Fourth place in triple jump 11.12 meters (36-5.75) (five points); Sixth place in 400 meters 1:01.49 (three points); Eighth place in 100 meter hurdles 19.77 (one point)
Marissa Cotsonas (Mountain View HS) – Fourth place in 400 meters 59.58 (five points)
Desire Montenegro (Sunnyside HS) – Fifth place in 800 meters 2:25.68 (four points)

Hannah Bartz (Mountain View HS) – Sixth place in triple jump 10.90 meters (35-9.25) (three points)
McKenna McGrath (St. David HS) – Sixth place in 100 meters 12.65 (three points); Seventh place in 100 meter hurdles 17.76 (two points)
Baylee Lakey (Cibola HS) – Sixth place in shot put 10.79 meters (35-5) (three points); Seventh place in discus 35.89 meters (117-9.25) (two points)
Shalise Fernander (Flowing Wells HS) – Seventh place in 200 meters 26.56 (two points)

Other men's results:

Tyler Johnson (Snowflake HS), Isaiah Brogden, Alan Leyva (Douglas HS), and Treyshon Malone (Yuma Catholic HS) – Third place in 4x100 relay 41.22 (six points)
Alan Leyva (Douglas HS) – Third place in 400 meters 50.04 (six points); Fourth place in triple jump 13.28 meters (43-7) (five points)
Ahmed Mohamed (Rincon HS) – Fourth place in 5,000 meters 15:35.98 (five points); Fifth place in 1,500 meters 4:07.16 (four points)
Estevan Gomez (Tucson Magnet HS) – Fourth place in 3,000 meter steeplechase 10:38.13 (five points)
Reece LaFaye (Marana HS), Hugo Nieves (Sunnyside HS), Alan Leyva (Douglas HS) and Amanuel Logo (Catalina HS) – Fifth place in 4x800 relay 3:23.40 (four points)
Javier Valencia – Fifth place in 3,000 meter steeplechase 11:50.73 (four points)
Reece LaFaye (Marana HS) – Fifth place in 400 meters 50.40 (four points)
Isaiah Brogden – Sixth place in 100 meters 10.92 (three points); Seventh place in 200 meters 22.21 (two points)
Mark Bennett (Marana HS) – Sixth place in 1,500 meters 4:12.66 (three points); Eighth place in 5,000 meters 16:11.20 (one point)
Hugo Nieves (Sunnyside HS) – Sixth place in 800 meters 2:00.68 (three points)
Treyshon Malone (Yuma Catholic HS) – Sixth place in 400 meters 50.49 (three points); Sixth place in 110 meter hurdles 15.73 (three points); Sixth place in 400 meter hurdles 57.65 (three points)
Brandon Ornelas (Ironwood Ridge HS) – Sixth place in pole vault 4.00 meters (13-1.50) (three points); Eighth place in 110 meter hurdles 16.04 (one point)
Jack Gilliam (Kingman HS) – Eighth place in shot put 11.88 meters (38-11.75) (one point)
Isaiah Kong-Delgado (Canyon del Oro HS) – Eighth place in pole vault 3.55 meters (11-7.75) (one point)

The Aztecs finished with 48 total national qualifying marks and times.

The Aztecs will compete in the NJCAA Outdoor National Championships at the South Plains College track in Levelland, TX from May 17-19.

See complete team and individual results of the NJCAA Region I Championships on Wing Foot Finish