By Doug Fry

Clackamas Community College track and field joined teams from all over the Northwest to compete in the 2017 Oregon State High Performance Meet on April 28 and 29.

In a track meet that consisted of PAC 12 schools such as Washington, Oregon State and Oregon, Clackamas was able to hold its own.

The Cougars had 10 athletes compete in eight events over the course of the two-day meet. Both the men and women’s teams had great success during a record-breaking weekend in Corvallis.

Head coach Keoni McHone was very pleased.

“Things are going really well,” said McHone. “So far every race we’ve either had a lifetime PR (personal record) or a season’s best. We’re also getting on our top 10 performance list of all time for the school. It’s been a really solid meet for us so far.”

Clackamas set two school records on top of the season and lifetime bests in the meet.

The men’s 4 x 100 meter relay is now tied No.7 in school history with their finish over the weekend. To add to that, Emerson Liburd was also able to tie the No. 7 time in the 110 meter high hurdle.

Freshman hurdler Liburd acknowledged his performance but still knows there is work to be done.

“It’s gone great,” said Liburd. “I really like how I performed. I got a great start out of the block and I think it was a great finish for me personally. I’m confident now.”

Sophomore All-American Brittany Coleman performed well, despite a delayed start on the season.

I’m really late coming into the season, so I’m irritated that I’m not where I’m supposed to be yet, but I’m working on it,” said Coleman. “I definitely need to work on my first phase. It was a little too high and have to practice my technique.”

Coleman was also able to set a season best in her second attempt in the triple jump.

Even after a successful weekend, both coaches and athletes know there is still have a lot of technique to be perfected. One large focus for the Cougars is to make sure they are healthy going into the Southern Region Championships.

Sophomore sprinter Margaryonta Kilcup has excelled in the 100 meter dash and added all factors of preparation to his training regimen with only a few weeks left in the season.

“I’ve gone sub 11 (seconds) for 3 or 4 weeks in a row. I’m working at getting better for championships coming up soon,” said Kilcup. “A lot of icing, training, lifting, recovery, rehab and getting prepared to go run against some of the top guys in the league.”

Liburd also knows what he needs to work on to continue to perform at his highest level possible.

I got to work on my technique. My speed is there, I just got to work on my form, how I go over the hurdles, how I finish races, how to get out of the block, all those little things are going to add up to get me to do the best I can do,” said Liburd.

Other notable performances on day two of the meet include a 3rd place finish by the men’s 4 by 100 meter relay time and a 2nd place finish in the javelin by Easton Christensen.

Clackamas’ heptathletes and decathletes competed May 1 and 2 in the NWAC multievent championships, then the team will return to action on May 5 at the Oregon Twilight meet hosted by the University of Oregon.