ARC's Theiler, Hartnell's Pacheco Win NorCal Hep/Dec Titles

April 16, 2015

College of San Mateo Sports News Contact: Fred Baer baerf@smccd.edu

ARC'S THEILER SHAVES 5 SECONDS OFF 800 BEST TO WIN NORCAL HEPTATHLON OVER BAXTER OF DE ANZA IN QUALIFIER FOR CCCAA STATE CHAMPS AT CSM (MAY 15-16)

SAN MATEO --MacKenzie Theiler of American River College took five seconds off her personal best in the concluding 800 meters, holding off challenger Katie Baxter of De Anza College to win the women's heptathlon at the Northern California Championships Wednesday at College of San Mateo.

Favored Baxter needed to make-up a 136-point deficit -- and won the 800 handily in 2 minutes, 25.65 seconds for 691 point. She finished with 4,438 points. Baxter, a sophomore who finished seventh in the state meet last year, had come into the competition as the NorCal leader and ranked No. 4 nationally among community college athletes at 4,460.

"I knew I had to finish within ten seconds of her to win, "said Theiler, a freshman. "This was only my second time running the 800. My previous best was 2:35."

Theiler ran 2:30.17 to score 691 points and finish with a score of 4,517 -- No. 3 in the USA this season. She was primarily a sprinter and quartermiler at Bret Harte High School (Altaville) as a senior in 2012.

--The top six finishers qualified for the California Community College Athletic Association Championships at CSM, May 15-16. Kossiwa Tossoukpe of City College of San Francisco was third with 4,276 points, followed by Taylor Blaha of Hartnell (4,179), Juia Grimm of Santa Rosa (4,135), and Tori Teraji of Hartnell (3,586).

Theiler had led with 2,720 after Tuesday's first four event, ahead of Baxter at 2,632.

This was also the first event of the Northern California Championships, which will continue at CSM on May 1 and conclude with most finals at American River in Sacramento on May 8 -- determining the remaining qualifiers for the state championships at San Mateo.

NorCal women's team scores after one event: American River 10, Hartnell 9, De Anza 8, CCSF 6, Santa Rosa 4, Shasta 2.

NorCal Community College Heptathlon Results (top 6 qualify for CCCAA state finals at CSM, May 15-16): 1. MacKenzie Theiler, American River, 4,517; 2. Katie Baxter, De Anza, 4,438; 3. Kossiwa Tossoukpe, CCSF, 4,276; 4. Taylor Blaha, Hartnell, 4,179; 5. Julia Grimm, Santa Rosa, 4,135; 6. Tori Teraji, Hartnell, 3,586; 7. Lauren Duval, Shasta, 3,540; 8. Linda Delgado, Hartnell, 3,415; 9. Letcia Heron, Delta, 3,396; 10. Allyson Bricker, Santa Rosa, 3,045; 11. Antonique Newson-He, Delta, 2,694.

For full Norcal Decathlon results: http://www.directathletics.com/results/track/39807_2482684.html

HARTNELL'S PACHECO STARTS STRONG ON DAY 2 TO WIN NORCAL DECATHLON TITLE

SAN MATEO -- Chase Pacheco of Hartnell College scored a state-leading 6,507 points to run away with the men's decathlon title at the Northern California championship Wednesday at College of San Mateo. He finished 247 points ahead of runner-up Spencer Stockton of Butte (6,260) and is now No. 2 in the 2015 U.S. community college rankings.

First day leader Kendrick Murphy of College of the Siskiyous (3,673) faded to third with 6,185 points -- still a season best by more than 300 points. Jeff Lam of American River, the former state leader (6,453) finished fourth with 6,163 points.

--The top six finishers qualified for the California Community College Athletic Association Championships at CSM, May 15-16.

Pacheco, in second place with 3,596 points on Tuesday evening, moved to the front by winning Wednesday's opening race, the 110 meter high hurdles, in 15.91 seconds for 743 points -- his highest total in any of the ten events. He held a seven point lead over Murphy at that juncture but extended that considerably by also winning the next event (the discus throw) and never looked back.

Pacheco, a freshman, had competed in the long jump at the 2014 state high school meet for Palma High School (Salinas). He had scored 6,140 points in his only previous decathlon, in February.

NorCal men's team scores after one event: Hartnell 10; Butte 8, Siskiyous and De Anza 6; American River 5; Yuba 3, Modesto 1.

NorCal Community College Decathlon Results (top 6 qualify for CCCAA state finals at CSM, May 15-16): 1. Chase Pacheco, Hartnell, 6,507; 2. Spencer Stockton, Butte, 6,260; 3. Kendrick Murphy, Siskiyous, 6,185; 4. Jeff Lam, American River, 6,163; 5. Anthony Cota, De Anza, 6,145; 6. Nolan O'Brien, Yuba, 5,608; 7. Hsu (Larry) Li-Hsun, De Anza, 5,337; 8. Nicholas Pulos, Modesto, 5,313; 9. Gideon Halpin, Santa Rosa, 5,190; 10. David Hernandez, Santa Rosa, 4,037.

For full Norcal Heptathlon results: http://www.directathletics.com/results/track/39807_2482695.html