Vaqueros look for SoCal success

GLENDALE — It won’t take long for Samantha Bogatz to find out if she will repeat as a champion in a pair of dashes.

Bogatz, a sophomore sprinter on the Glendale Community College women’s track and field team, cautioned it won’t be easy as she will strive to capture the 100- and 200-meter dashes again at the Southern California Championships at Saddleback College today.

“It’s going to be hard because it’s a talented field,” said Bogatz, a Glendale High graduate who won both races for the second consecutive season at the Western State Conference Championships on April 30 at Moorpark College. “The competition has gotten so much better and I don’t want to let the pressure of repeating get to me.

“Once you start to worry, then that’s when you start to mess up. I’ll treat it like they are just other races.”

A slew of Glendale college athletes will join Bogatz, who clocked 24.23 seconds to break her own school-record in the 200 during the Southern California prelims at Saddleback College on May 8.

On the women’s side, Angie Gonzalez and Catlin Kelly will participate in the 3,000 steeplechase and Rosa Del Toro and Nina Moore will be in the 1,500. Karen Rosas, Vivian Ochoa, Moore, Gonzalez and Reyna Samaniego will take part in the 5,000 and Alina Jabourian, Carissa Porter, Glendale High graduate Daniela Pollard and Bogatz will make up the 4x100 relay team.

Four members of the men’s team are also expected to compete today. Frankie Quijada will race in the steeplechase and 5,000 and Jonathan Alpizar will participate in the steeplechase. Also competing will be Miguel Flores in the 800 and Ricky Avila in the 1,500.

The top six from each event except for the 100, 200, 400, 800, both hurdles events and relays will advance to the California Community College Athletic Assn. Track and Field Championships, which will be held May 21-22 at Antelope Valley College. The top four finishes in the 100, 200, 400, 800, both hurdle events and relays plus the fastest fifth time from either the Northern California or Southern California championships will move on to state.

The finals in the women’s 10,000 were held May 8. Rosas finished third with a personal-best mark of 36 minutes 43.97 seconds to qualify. Ochoa finished seventh (37:27.01) and will be an alternate.

Glendale college Coach Eddie Lopez said the Vaqueros are shooting for a top-three finish in the women’s competition and possibly a couple of first-place finishes from his long-distance men’s athletes.

“We feel that we can score in most of the women’s races and Samantha has been looking good so we can score a lot of points,” Lopez said. “In the men’s competition, hopefully we can maybe win an individual title in the steeplechase and send some qualifiers to state.”

The field events begin at 9 a.m. and the racing events start at 2:30 p.m.