Records Fall, Warriors Shine at CCS Top 8 Invitational; Girls Finish Second in Team Standings

San Jose, CA – The breakthroughs came one after another at the 37th annual CCS Top 8 Classic, held at San Jose City College Friday. One big one came with little more celebration than a fist pump and a few cheers from the small crowd but the significance of that throw would end up being historic. Heading into the meet only once in the 50-year plus history of the CCS has the girls shot put surpassed 50 feet; Bruckner was about to become the second.  It came in round five, Bruckner had already hit a personal best of 49-11 in the qualifying rounds and let one fly. Her throw of 50-5.25 is currently #1 in the nation and less than 2 inches off of the over-all CCS record.

[Video: Elena Bruckner breaks 50’ in shot put]

In fact it was a strong day all around in throws that day. Freshman Athya Iese got things going in the first flight with a personal best throw of 34-6.5, impressively qualifying for the top 8 finals. Ronna Stone smiled after a first throw scratch in her qualifying round, perhaps knowing good things were coming. It was in the next throw that Stone launched one 44 feet, 9 inches; nearly a two-foot personal best. She is currently ranked #6 in California.

Lydia Sum had a solid showing in the triple jump, placing ninth in a season best 34-8. Not jumping since March it was a strong showing in her first three jumps back. But it was in the 100 hurdles the senior really shined. Finishing second in the 100 hurdles, Sum ran a personal best 15.31. Her run currently ranks #2 in CCS.

Ashley Lara was impressive in the 1600 meters winning her heat in 5:16.54. That run moves her to #8 all-time for the Warriors. She also had a solid showing coming back to run the 800 in 2:25.

The girls 4 x 400 team of Melissa Reese, Alison Cong, Kiko Li and Ashley Lara ran a season best 4:17.05. Ashley Lara returned for her third event on the day anchoring an impressive sub 60 second leg.

The girls track & field team finished in second in team scoring with 44 points on the day, just 4.5 points out of the team title, establishing them as one of the contenders for the team title at the CCS Championship this May.

Links: Results / Pics / SJMN Article

Meet Highlights:

• Elena Buckner and Ronna Stone went 1-2 in the discus; Bruckner's throw of 160-9 broke the meet record and ranks #3 all-time in CCS history.
• Elaine Ma finished 7^th in the long jump with a mark of 15-9.
• Mathew Weeks won the frosh-soph triple jump in a personal best 42-0.25. That ranks him #4 over-all in the WCAL and #7 all-time for the Warriors.
• Skyler Gregg ran a personal best 54.05 in the 400 meters and is closing in on Kirk Johnson’s freshman record set in 2012.
• The frosh-soph boys 4x400 team ran a season best 3:44.74. That ranks #10 all-time in team history.