Cuesta Women's Track & Field slipped to 5th place in the Western State Conference last year, after earning a title (2021) and posting a pair of team Silvers and in the three previous three seasons. Cuesta Coach Robert Neely enters his second season at the helm with the women back on the title track. The Cougars collected seven Top 5 performances in four event finals at last weekend's WSC Preliminary Meet, while compiling a meet leading 49 team points. The Cougars finished 5th in the WSC last season with 74 total points but have a long way to go for the 176 points Cuesta accumulated for their 2021 title or the 175 points posted by 2023 WSC Champion West Los Angeles. The WSC Finals are scheduled for Bakersfield this Friday.
The WSC only completed in five event finals during the WSC Preliminary Meet, while narrowing down the field for this weekend's finals. Beyond the preliminaries, last weekend featured the finals of the 10,000-meter run, as well as two jumps, High and Long, and two throws, Discus, and Javelin. The women's team earned eight all-conference (Top 5) honors to open the battle and take the lead against the WSC Circuit. Returning State Place Winners Madeline Scovil, Grace Gutierrez and Savannah Shoemaker pushed the Cougars to the top of the standings. Scovil, Cuesta's reigning Athlete of the Year, earned All-State Honors after breaking Cuesta's Triple Jump record, while Gutierrez was the 2023 State Runner-up in the High Jump and broke the Cougars' 46-year-old event record this season. Shoemaker Redshirted last season but was State Qualifier in 2022. That year, she finished 7th in the Heptathlon and 5th in the Javelin at the State Meet. Last week, Scovil took 3rd in the Long Jump against the conference for the second time and will defend her 2023 WSC Triple Jump title this weekend. Last weekend, Gutierrez repeated as the WSC Runner-up in the High Jump, while teammates Rian Huffman and Shoemaker finished 3rd and 4th, respectively. Shoemaker, who also added a Bronze in the Javelin, qualified for the 2024 CCCAA State Championships by taking 4th place at the 2024 Southern California Regional Multi-Event Meet, while also earning a second-place finish in the WSC for the Heptathlon. Freshman Harper Clark finished right behind Shoemaker in the Javelin and added a Runner-up finish in the Discus to complete the Cougars' preliminary all-WSC list.
All five of last week's all-WSC performers will be back in action this Friday at the WSC Finals in Bakersfield. The Cougars shall also add 2023 State Finalist Elle Casselman and a pair of Star Harriers with Brinley Ewen and Summer Gelman. Gelman and Casselman both earned all-State honors in Cross Country during the Fall, while Ewen has already posted Cuesta All Time Top 10 marks in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs this season.
All-WSC Performers
Savannah Shoemaker (Heptathlon)- 2nd Place
Grace Gutierrez (High Jump)- 2nd Place
Savannah Shoemaker (Javelin)- 2nd Place
Harper Clark (Discus)- 2nd Place
Rian Huffman (High Jump)- 3rd Place
Madeline Scovil (Long Jump)- 3rd Place
Savannah Shoemaker (High Jump)- 4th Place
Harper Clark (Javelin)- 4th Place
