De Anza College’s track and field teams excelled at the Coast Conference Championships April 28 meet.
The men’s team took home the first Coast Conference Championship win in school history and the women came in second.
With 162.5 points and scoring in 19 of 20 events, the Dons beat out second place finisher and host, Hartnell college, by 7.5 points.
Big scoring events for the men’s team, the meet’s underdog, were the triple jump and high jump.
“It was kind of unexpected,” said coach Nick Mattis, “we weren’t picked to win this. We weren’t even close to being picked to win this. They just had a very good week and put everything together finally for a full season of work and it came together at the right time.”
The men won two events. Emmanuel Gbondo, a sophomore, helped set the tone with an early high jump victory. In a very close race, freshman Donte Williams clinched De Anza’s second win by out-leaning the pack in the last two to three steps, said Mattis.
De Anza lost a hurdler, due to a knee problem early in the season, leading to challenges in the event throughout the season. High jump champion Gbondo was also on the injured list after spraining his knee, but was cleared by a doctor to participate and finish out his last year.
As reported in the April 23 edition of La Voz, the lack of a home track has been an issue for this year’s team. Track athletes have had to visit other schools to practice, taking valuable time out of their training and school schedules. While the men’s team employed a strategy of forcing prelims in some cases to tire out opponents, De Anza’s women had to run multiple events in order to score points. While they may not have had their best individual performances, the team effort paid off.
The women’s team scored 179 points, losing only to Laney College, the highest ranked team in the state, and defeating rival Hartnell. Dominique Guinnane, freshman, was the only woman champion, taking first in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
With a young team across the board, Mattis is optimistic about the next season.
“The future’s looking good and we’re supposed to have some good recruits coming in too,” he said. “We lose some good leaders and good point scorers, but with what we have coming in, we’re hoping we can pick right up and be even stronger next year. And we’ll have a place to practice!”
