Jones takes 3rd in WSC shot put; 3 Vaqueros advance to So Cal Prelims

Edward Jones finished third in the WSC shot put final on Friday in the WSC men's track & field prelims at Bakersfield College. Jones, a sophomore from San Diego, reached 13.69 meters (44 feet, 11 inches).

Skylar Payovich was fourth in the discus final (41.47m) and Evan Askar was sixth in the 10,000 final in a season-best 34:27.26. Jones, Payovich and Askar all advanced to the Southern Cal Prelims at Cerritos College.

"Skylar had a great day," said Vaquero throws coach Juan Zavala. "He was prepared to compete after a good week of practice. He was feeling really good about his technique and it showed. He strung together a really good six-throw series and is moving on to So Cal. 

"Eddie was able to recompose himself after he had a rough day at discus and pulled out a big throw at shot on his third attempt. He showed a lot of maturity when he didn't let having a bad day in one event affect the rest of his day."

Three Vaqueros qualified for the WSC Finals, which will take place on Friday at Moorpark College, starting at 2 p.m. Alex Ramirez and Jacob Ogawa took second and fourth in their heat in the 1500 to automatically qualify. Ramirez was timed in 4:06.84 and Ogawa ran a PR of 4:09.11.

Jordan Shinn advanced in the 400 hurdles, taking fourth in his heat in 58.20.

In addition to finals in running events and relays next Friday, there will be field event finals in the pole vault, triple jump, javelin and hammer.