College of the Canyons track and field compiled some early points and saw a slew of strong performances during the opening meet of the two-day Western State Conference Prelims & Championships, hosted by Ventura College April 18.

The meet hosted finals heats of several field events while also running qualifying heats in a majority of its track competitions.

Canyons finished the day ranked third in the eight-team field of women’s programs after securing points in the discus, long jump, high jump and shot put events.

Freshman Jessica Clemmons finished third in the discus (31.37m/102′ 11″) to give the Cougars an early boost. Teammate Hazel Rhodes finished fourth in the discus (30.71m/100′ 9″) to add more points for the COC side.

Rhodes had another routinely busy day, throwing for a fourth-place mark (8.64m/28′ 4.25″) in the shot put. She also placed third in the 200m (25.91) and second in the 400m (57.59).

Monique Fulling placed third in the long jump (5.20m/17′ 0.75″) to further aid the Canyons cause. She also won the preliminary heats of both the 400h (1:09.42) and 100h (16.18) and ran fourth in the 100m (12.74).

Brianna Nodine and Samantha Rodriguez tied for eighth in the high jump (1.40m/4′ 7″) to round out the day-one scoring. Rodriguez had an eventful meet, also taking fourth in the 400h (1:13.62), seventh in the 100h (17.42) and 14th in the long jump (4.34m/14′ 3″).

COC (19) trails second-place Santa Barbara City College (27) and leader Cuesta College across the first three slots of the women’s. standings.

In men’s competition the Cougars (12) rank sixth. Allan Hancock College (36) leads the 11-team field followed by Cuesta (27) and Moorpark College (20) in the top three positions.

Canyons gained points from Derrick Shannon and Travis Dyson in the shot put and discus events while logging top-seven finishes in five other preliminary events.

Shannon threw for a mark of 35.54m/116′ 7″ in the discus to finish fourth. Later, he measured 10.83m/35′ 6.5″ in the shot put to take sixth in that event.

Travis Dyson recorded a distance of 10.86m/35′ 7.75″ to finish fifth in the shot put.

In qualifying heats it was Antonio Moore winning the 400h (56.54), Gavin Dion finishing second in the 1500m (4:09.53) and third in the 800m (1:59.01). Josh Smith was sixth in the 400m (50.81) and Nathaniel Wilkinson was seventh in the 1500m (4:09.98).

Canyons returns to competition Friday, April 25, at the WSC Championships being hosted by Moorpark College.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by visiting COCAthletics.com and on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.