It had been nearly two years since The Central Arizona College Track and Field teams competed in a formal meet, on Saturday CAC got a taste of what it felt like to compete again.  CAC along with Mesa CC, Pima CC, Glendale CC, Paradise Valley CC, and Phoenix College all competed at the Mesa Invitational held at Mesa CC Track Complex.  The Vaqueros and Vaqueras had some solid performances on the track and in the field but due to the lack of competing in such a long time, some noticeable rust was anticipated.   "I am pleased to see how the team operated today, although we have a long way to go until we feel confident in our performance level, we understand that the athletes had some cobwebs to shake out and this meet was a good test to see our current fitness level"  Stated Head Coach Andrew Wood. 

Although the meet was a tune up for the coming weeks to come, individually CAC had some great individual performances highlighted by 5 athletes punching their ticket to National Meet held at South Plains, Texas in May.  Those athletes included Precious Robinson (18.25.27 5k), Princess Kara (12.79m Shot Put, 51.35m Discuss), Salomey Agyei (2.20.42 800m), Joda Campbell (14.80 110 Hurdles), and Joshua Bowen (56.02m Javelin).  "These athletes worked hard during the off-season to come out and compete in their first competition in almost two years to qualify for the national meet.  I'm very proud of them all and I anticipate more athletes qualifying in the coming meets as we get our legs underneath us"  Stated Distance Coach Jon Harmon. 

Central Arizona also posted some solid marks in other events, claiming individual victories in the 400 meter hurdles (Kwanda Knight), High Jump (Jaelan Stewart), Long Jump (Travion White-Austin), Women's 4x400 meter relay, Men's 4X100 Relay, and Men's 4X400 relay.  Women's Sprint Coach Kim Dismuke stated "I'm happy for all the athletes, two years of non-competition is very hard to stay motivated and continue to train at a high level.  I know that the team will respond and will post even better marks as the season progresses".   Jumps Coach Martin Honea said this about his athletes "Jaelan long jumped for the first time in his life and was quite successful, especially considering he won the high jump and previously ran the 200 minutes later", "I'm also impressed with Aaliyah Bartholomew, she showed great focus which allowed her to perform well in the long jump (5.01m), 100 hurdles (16.88), and 200 meters (28.59) and will only continue to get better as the season continues".

The Central Arizona College Track and Field Teams return to action at the Pima Community College Invitatioal on 3/13/21.  Results from the Mesa Outdoor Invitatational can be found here.