Following last weekend’s 3C2A portion of the 66th Annual Mt. SAC Relays, where SAC placed top five in 85% of events, SAC faced challenges when having to compete against top universities from around the country.
On Thursday, sophomore javelin thrower Taiyo Ishiguro was Mt. SAC’s only returning athlete from the previous weekend.
Ishiguro threw an impressive 63.38 meters, which placed him in second among the stiff collegiate competition.
“I felt really good today [and] I had good wind … so the environment was so good,” Ishiguro said.
His performance puts him in first place within the division 3C2A javelin rankings, leading with almost 6 meters. Ishiguro mentioned that the strong competition motivated him, and he is already aiming to break Mt. SAC’s school record of 66 meters.
On Friday, the day consisted of elite, university and high school level athletes with the exception of Mt. SAC, which was the only community college. SAC would only compete in nine categories, taking home one first place award in women’s pole vault.
Miku Yanagawa, an international freshmen student from Japan, competed in the women’s pole vault event hitting a mark of 4 meters.
“Miku, she’s super coachable and her attitude is all about the game,” Reed Scale, Yanagawa’s coach, said. “She has that competitive edge. She tells me, ‘I wanna win, coach. I didn’t fly across the world from Japan to lose.’ She’s out here to better herself, to develop as an athlete and as a student.”
Her last few attempts were fouls but she kept a smile on her face, and did not let anything get her down.
“I came to [the] US because I want to jump more and then I want to go to the Olympics,” Yanagawa said. “If I find myself, maybe I cannot make it, because [I am] so scared to jump, but I love my teammates because everyone [is] cheering [for] me.”
Yanagawa explains she is looking forward to the state championship the most, hoping to beat her PR.
“I just want to jump over 14 feet. This is my goal,” Yanagawa said.
The men’s triple jump was met with challenges as both sophomore Brayden Wetherspoon and sophomore Myles Massie went against Jay Louison-Roe, a senior at Cal State Northridge and number 9 on the Men’s Collegiate 2026 Division I list for men’s triple jump.
Wetherspoon scored 0.76 meters per second lower than his PR, 15.11 meters.
“I feel like I need to get back in the lab, get some more work in and work on my phases again,” Wetherspoon said. “This event puts a lot of wear and tear on you … it’s a tough event.”
Massie went on to score a 15.41 meter marking, awarding him seventh place.
Sophomore Sophia Ebiner made her PR after the women’s 5000 meter elite relay of 17 minutes and 13 seconds. She had previously stated last weekend her goal was to beat her PR of 17 minutes and 21 seconds.
“I wanted to run to 17, possibly get a school record,” Ebiner said. “I felt pretty short of that but, I can’t be mad at the end of the day, because I PR’d.”
Ebiner wasn’t the only SAC athlete in this event, as both freshmen Casey McConn and sophomore Kaitlyn Reyes started off in the event but came to a halt in their 6th lap.
“They were there to pace me and you know like pull me along to get those goals and they did their job,” Ebiner said. “I’m so glad they were there. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”
Head Coach Perspective
Head track and field coach Giovanni Lanaro provided some commentary about why it’s so important for Mt. SAC to hold a home event like this for their athletes.
“I think more than anything is to be able to compete on this stage with a big crowd against high level athletes,” Lanaro said.
Lanaro explains how holding a home advantage event further prepares student athletes to go onto universities after their time at Mt. SAC and get exposure to other coaches.
“You know you have a lot of division one schools out here and a lot of coaches so what it helps our athletes do is get exposure. Because the goal is once they’re done here is to move on to a university somewhere,” Lanaro said.
More information on officials scores and times for the events can be found here or information or official 3C2A rankings can be found here.
