Nevitt Qualifies for Regionals in Four Events, Naugle and Nickelson Advance in Two

Nevitt Qualifies for Regionals in Four Events, Naugle and Nickelson Advance in Two
April 29, 2016

Taylor Nevitt qualified in two more throwing events and Rachel Naugle advanced in two distance events to represent the Allan Hancock College track and field team at next month's Southern California Regional. Nevitt, Naugle and Luke Nickelson qualified for regionals with top six performances at the Western State Conference Championships at Bakersfield College. The Hancock women finished seven in the team standings with 34 points, while the Hancock men came in tenth with 12 points.

The Cuesta men (141 points) and West Los Angeles women (177.5) won the conference team titles.

Nevitt, who won the shot put and finished third in the javelin throw last week, competed in two events this week. The Nipomo High School graduate finished runner-up in the discus throw with a top distance of 129 feet, four inches. She also placed fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 108-3 to qualify in four throwing events.

Naugle, a freshman, finished sixth in the women's 1,500 meter final with a time of 5:05.56 to claim the final automatic spot at regionals. Later, Naugle finished sixth in the women's 5000 meter final when she crossed the finish line in 19:57.71. She edged a Canyon's runner by less than one second for the sixth and final qualifying spot.

Nickelson, the conference's long jump champion, finished seventh in the men's triple jump final. The Nipomo High School graduate's top mark was 43 feet, eight inches. The freshman will serve as an alternate for the event at regionals.

The Southern California Regional Preliminaries will be on Friday, May 7, at Antelope Valley College. Athletes will look to qualify and advance to the Regional Finals on May 14. The top 12 in throwing and jumping events at the prelims advance to the finals. For Naugle, she will run in the 5K final on May 14, and compete in the 1,500 preliminary heats on May 7. The top four in each heat and the next four fastest times from either heat qualify for the 12-athlete final on the following week.