Trujillo, Witana shine for Pirates at State Finals
WALNUT -- It was a wonderful ending for Orange Coast College women's track and field standouts, Jasmin Trujillo and Nikki Witana, as the Pirate duo qualified and competed in last weekend's 3C2A Track and Field State Championships on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.
Trujillo, a two-time 3C2A qualifier in the 400-meter run, found herself in a battle with the best of the best, with a four-runner log jam near the top of the field. In the end, Trujillo earned herself a fifth-place finish in the 400, clocking in with a time of 56.78, just .27 off of the state runner-up time, turned in by Cuyamaca's Alonna Bush (56.51). College of the Canyons' Hazel Rhodes led the way with a winning time of 54.78, nearly two seconds ahead of Bush for the gold medal.
Trujillo completed her OCC career in solid stride. After winning the Orange Empire Conference championship in the 400 as a freshman and finishing third in the state last year (56.34), the El Modena HS graduate finished third in the OEC and SoCals this year before earning fifth in the state at Mt. SAC.
Witana, who finished 11th in the state in the heptathlon last year with 3,449 points, improved her point total and spot in the state standings this year, finishing 9th overall with 4,163 points.
She completed her two-day, seven-event competition in style, finishing fifth in the state in the javelin throw with a mark of 87-feet, 4 1/4-inches. In her final event -- the 800-meter run, Witana caught and passed Riverside City College's Mabel Gonzalez to earn the bronze medal with a third-place time of 2:29.27, just ahead of Gonzalez's 2:29.35. Monterey Peninsula's Lillian Thrasher took the state title in the heptathlon with 4,846 points.
