BC’s Smith wins 100 hurdles in state-best time
Bakersfield College sophomore Neshara Smith just keeps rolling along.
The East High graduate lowered her state-best time in the 100 hurdles with a 14.14 to win her third individual title as part of the two-day Western State Conference track and field championships that concluded at Memorial Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Smith won the high jump and long jump at last week’s WSC event at Antelope Valley College, and was seventh in the javelin. On Friday at BC, Smith was fourth in the shot put, earning her a spot in Friday’s SoCal Championship Trials at Cerritos College in all five events.
She has already qualified for the CCCAA State Championships in the heptathlon after placing first at the SoCal Combined Events Regional Championships earlier this month.
Smith is one of 17 Renegades who placed in the top-7 and will be in action next week in Cerritos, although a handful of others could advance with an at-large bid or as alternates. BC coach Pam Kelly will be part of Zoom call Sunday morning where those decisions will be made.
Freshman Daimon Dedmon and sophomore Jacob Perez each qualified in three events.
Dedmon, a freshman from Kern Valley High, won the men’s long jump last week with a state-best 24-8.25, and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 200 with a PR of 21.43 and a third-place finish in the 100 with a 10.81. He PR’d in the prelims last week at AVC in 10.80.
Perez, the 2022 BVarsity All-Area boys co-cross country runner of the year from Frontier, graduate, won the 10,000 last week with a 33:28.97 — one of seven BC runners to place in the top-7 in the event — and also qualified with a third in the 5,000 and a fourth in the steeplechase on Friday.
Daniel Hartman (discus, hammer), Atzin Anguiano (10,000, 5,000), Abraham Castro (10,000,
Continued from steeplechase), Brooklyn
Herron (100, 200) and Tani Mancilla (110 and 400 hurdles) qualified in two events.
Herron and Mancilla will also compete in the 400 relay along with Melany Franco and Kamryn Hannible, which finished sixth on Friday. Mancilla, Franco, Hannibal and Mariah Delgado placed seventh in the 1600 relay. Franco also qualified individually with a runner-up finish in the women’s pole vault.