On Saturday, June 5th, 14 Fillmore track and field athletes traveled to Carpinteria to compete in the CIF Prelims Division 4 Championships. The 14 athletes competed in 21 individual events, and one relay. Currently both boys and girls teams are ranked as the 6 best scoring team. In order to advance to the Finals individuals and teams must finish among the top nine in all heats of their event. Tenth and eleventh qualify and may run as first or second alternate.

The boys varsity discus trio of Justice Rodriguez, Diego Meza and Joesef Vargas started the morning on a positive note by qualifying all three competitors into next Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Divisional Finals. Justice led all three athletes by posting a personal best of over six feet to finish 3rd overall with a toss of 126’ 9”. Joesef Vargas finished in 8th with a toss of 117’ 11”, and Diego Meza picked up the final qualifying spot finishing in 9th with a toss of 111’ 0”.

The girl’s discus trio also performed well. They were led by Ashley Yepez who placed 4th tossing the implement 94’ 4”. Kara Ebell finished in 7th place reaching a distance of 88’ 6”. Both Ashley and Kara qualified and will compete in the Finals. Teammate Sadie Rico finished in 11th with a throw of 79’ 6”. She will be the second alternate.

Ashley followed up her 4th place finish in the discus with a put that she muscled 28’ 6.5 inches for a tenth-place finish and earned a first alternate qualifier for the Finals.

In the boys shot put, Fillmore placed 3 athletes into next week's Finals. Nathaniel Ocegueda was our top finisher, placing 4th with a heave of 43’ 11.5”. Teammate Joesef Vargas finished in 7th tossing the iron ball 42’ 5.75 inches, and Diego Meza finished in 8th with a put of 41’ 9.75”.

Amani Hooker ran the 100 meter hurdles and placed 6th in a time of 16.95 to qualify for the Finals. She also ran the 100 meter dash and finished in 22nd place in a time of 13.40.

Alianna Tapia competed in the 1600 meters and finished in 10th place in a personal best time of 5:34.58. She will be the first alternate in this event next week. She followed that up, later in the meet by placing 17th in the 3200 meter and posted a time of 12:48.33.

Fabian Del Villar placed first in the 1600 meters, winning in a time of 4:20.87. Following close behind was teammate Rey Laureano who finished in 6th place in a personal best time of 4:29.02. Rey also ran and qualified in the 800 meters finishing in 8th place in a time of 2:04.05. Fabi also returned to capture a 3200-meter win in a time of 9:35.94. Also qualifying in this race was Camilo Torres who placed 4th in a personal best time of 9:37.72. Erick Gutierrez finished in 18th in a time of 10:27.66. This was a season best in this event for Erick. Both Rey and Fabi were double qualifiers, with Fabi posting the fastest times on the day in the 1600 meters and the 3200 meters.

The final event of the day, the boys 4 x 400 proved to be exciting and controversial. After a team disqualification, Fillmore moved in to tenth place to finish as the first alternate. Runners on that team were Rey Laureano, Camilo Torres, Juan Alfaro, and Fabian Del Villar. They posted a time of 3:44.26.

Twelve athletes will return to Carpinteria High School on Saturday, June 12th to compete in the CIF Division 4 Championships Finals. A total of 11 athletes will compete in 14 events, with several other hoping to get into the meet as first and second alternates. The meet will start at 1:00 PM.