MARAUDERS LOOK TOUGH ON TRACK\AVC team sets sights on state meet titles.Byline: Kathy Orton Special to the Daily News The six seasons that coach Mark Covert has spent building the track and field program at Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. are about to pay off. Not only does Covert have for the first time a track on campus to host meets, he also has some pretty good runners to put on that track. "The men's team is very, very good," Covert said. "This might be the best overall talent I've ever had. . . . We have a chance to win at the state meet in three different events." The Marauders are led this season by the 400-meter relay team of Micah Blankenship, Kenny Hopson, Craig Kelley and Verrick Dabney. As freshmen, Blankenship, Hopson, Kelley and George Daniels Dr George Daniels MBE, DSc, FSA (born 1926) is an English watchmaker who is famous for creating the co-axial escapement. This has been used by Omega in their highest grade watches since 1999. set a school record in the event (40.73 seconds), won a Foothill Conference championship, placed third in the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, finals and took fourth at the state meet. Daniels may return once his academic situation is resolved. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , Dabney, from El Dorado El Dorado, legendary country of South America El Dorado (ĕl`dərä`dō, –rā`–) [Span.,=the gilded man], legendary country of the Golden Man sought by adventurers in South America. High in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. , takes his spot on the team. Covert said the Marauders sprint corps has a good chance of placing three runners at the state meet. Rounding out the talented group, besides Hopson, Kelley and Dabney, are returning sprinter Jody Edington and Moses Bakus, a freshman from Taft High in Woodland Hills. Joey Moore, a freshman from Boulder City Boulder City, residential city (1990 pop. 12,567), S Nev., just W of Hoover Dam near Lake Mead; inc. 1959. Built (1932) by the federal government as headquarters during the dam's construction, it became a self-governing municipality by act of Congress in 1958. , Nev., gives Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley another possible state contender in the decathlon decathlon (dĭkăth`lŏn), in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. . Moore is also a good high hurdler and should do well for the Marauders in that event. In the field events, Brian Bailey returns to throw the discus, shot put, hammer and javelin for the Marauders. Just last season, Bailey learned how to throw the javelin, then ended up competing in the Southern California prelims in that event. Joining Bailey are throwers Peter Matri and Charles Patterson. "We have a couple of holes," Covert said. "There's a big question mark on the men's distance runners. They need to get a little bit better to race to their potential. The conference is good in that area. We might get swamped. They have to respond to the competition." Matt Jacobs, the only member of the men's cross country team to compete at the state meet this season, is Antelope Valley's top returning distance runner. Jacobs took 55th at the state meet in the fall. "The kids have done the work they need to," Covert said. "We just need to bring them along and keep them healthy. The hard, hard work has been put in. Now it's fun. They get to compete every week." San Bernardino will likely be the Marauders' toughest challenge again this season, but Covert sees an advantage to hosting one of the Foothill Conference invitationals and the conference prelims and finals at Antelope Valley. "If we can win up here (at the AVC (1) (Advanced Video Coding) The video compression techniques used in the H.264 standard, jointly developed by ISO and the ITU-T. See H.264. (2) (Audio Visual C invitational) and split one of the first two (conference invitationals) or if we can win both, the men are in very good shape," Covert said. On the women's side, distance runners Jolene Argandar and Nicole Martin return for the Marauders. Argandar and Martin competed together on the women's cross country team that took 16th at the state meet this past fall. Argandar finished 34th in the state overall. Lamonica Milner (sprints) and Christine Bostick (hurdles) should also do well this season. Once basketball season ends, Covert looks for freshman Stacey Hartwell, a Nevada state champion in the shot put and discus last year, to be a contributor in the field events along with Patricia Amed (javelin). Covert sees a lot of quality, just not much quantity on the women's team. "We don't have tremendous depth," he said. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo Running on the Marauders' strong 400-meter relay team are, from left, Micah Blankenship, Verrick Dabney, Kenny Hopson and Craig Kelley. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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