Championship Preview: Track and Field

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. - The Finger Lakes Community College track and field team's impressive season all comes down to the final three days of the season this Thursday, May 9th through Saturday, May 11th. The Lakers will send four women and three men to Mohawk Valley Community College for the NJCAA Division III National Championships.

Sophomore Trinity Ortiz headlines the women's squad, coming off an impressive showing at the NJCAA Region III championships where she went 3-for-3 claiming the regional championship in the 100m dash, high jump, and long jump. Oritz's performance earned her NJCAA Division III National Athlete of the Week. Ortiz remains the favorite to claim the long jump national championship this season, with several top-10 performances at NCAA meets. Ortiz will compete in the 100m, 200m, high jump, and long jump. Following closely behind was Juliette Ventura who earned a second-place finish at the regional championships in the heptathlon, earning Second Team All-Region honors. Despite her second place finish, Ventura is also the favorite to claim the NJCAA title in the heptathlon with the top mark this season in junior college with a season-high 2880 points. In addition to heptathlon, Ventura will also compete in the 100m hurdles, high jump, long jump, and javelin.

Freshman Grace Holmes and teammate Morgan Cheney round out the women's team. Holmes is slated for a top-10 finish in the pole vault, having earned second place in the regional championships. Cheney will look to make her mark in the 3000m steeplechase, an event in which she earned a top-10 finish at nationals last season. On the men's side, the regional champion in the 10000m, Zachary Lester, will look to earn a top-10 finish at nationals. Classmate Terreque Davis will look to take his impressive performance from regionals to nationals as he aims for top-10 finishes in the 110m hurdles and the high jump. Rounding out the men's squad is Jason Hunt-McLean who will compete in the javelin as the Lakers' lone competitor in the field events.

The three-day championship will be live-streamed here. Results can be found at Leone Timing and the schedule of events is available here. Keep up to date with the NJCAA Divison III National Championship at flccathletics.com and on social media @flccathletics on Facebook and Twitter, and @flcclakers on Instagram.