The women’s De Anza track and field team finished runner-up in the 2024 Coast Conference with 173 points total. This was another great accomplishment by the team, with many stacked odds against them, such as only having 20 female athletes compete in the Coast Conference championship.

Ningning O’Brien, 18, psychology major and thrower for both discus and hammer, talked about her highlights during this past season.

“My personal favorite moment would be hitting my personal record,” O’Brien said. “It just gave me a lot more hope for the rest of the season going into the postseason too.”

O’Brien is the women’s track and field discus champion and was sixth in hammer throw in the 2024 Coast Conference. O’Brien plans to continue track and field at a division one level at a university.

“I’ve been in contact with a lot of the schools that we’re going to compete against, so being able to compete against their schools and show them who I am as a (community college) athlete is definitely something big,” O’Brien said.

Mari Davidson, 21, psychology major and hurdle runner, is preparing for NorCal by continuing her same regiment.

“I’ve been training since the summer; every day we’re (showing up) and doing hurdle training consistently,” Davidson said. “For NorCal it’s really just making sure I’m taking time to focus on the little details of my events, and get it all down pat.”

Davidson has been challenged with different obstacles throughout the season. One of the tougher obstacles for her was an injury.

“I actually injured my hamstring in the first meet of the season,” Davidson said. “So really I was my own biggest obstacle because I sort of got in my own head about it.”

K’Jada Cayetano, 22, criminal justice major, was not able to compete in the 2024 Coast Conference but will be competing at NorCal. She will continue the same path of preparation that got her to be able to compete at the NorCal, she said.

Cayento was really happy about how the women’s team competed at the 2024 Coast Conference.

“Just knowing that our girls were supposed to place way lower than what we did,” Cayetano said. “Having them be able to step up without me being there and a couple of our other teammates … they did what they had to do.”