Thiel Hits a Three-Bagger to Help Moorpark Win Again

BAKERSFIELD —  Three victories in three events.

Not a bad day’s work, nor an uncommon one, for Amy Thiel of Moorpark College in the Western State Conference track and field championships at Bakersfield College on Saturday.

Thiel, a sophomore transfer from Colorado State, won the shotput in a career-best 49-6, the discus with a throw of 164-6 and the hammer throw with a toss of 178-4 to lead the Raiders to their third consecutive WSC title.

Moorpark totaled 188 points to easily defeat runner-up Bakersfield, which had 136.

West L.A. finished third in the 13-team meet with 101 points, followed by Ventura with 93 and Glendale with 82.

Moorpark edged Bakersfield, 208-206 1/2, for the conference championship last year, but Thiel, Melissa McBain, Angela Foster, Jeanene Gerry and several teammates made sure it wasn’t close Saturday.

“This was something we had been talking about all season,” Thiel said of the team title. “We wanted it right from the start.”

Thiel, who placed third in the shotput in the 1998 state high school championships when she was a senior at Fremont Christian in Northern California, won the discus to start the women’s meet and followed that with victories in the hammer throw and shotput.

She had also swept all three events in the All-American Community College National Elite meet at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista last month and in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on April 14.

Thiel set national junior college records of 178-11 and 179-0 in the hammer throw at Mt. SAC, but she doesn’t favor one event over another.

“Whichever one I happen to do best in on that day is my favorite,” she said. “I enjoy them all.”

While Thiel totaled 30 points for Moorpark, McBain accounted for 26 by winning the 1,500 meters in 4:48.47 and finishing second in the 800 in 2:21.26 and second in the 3,000 in 10:45.73.

Foster totaled 22 points by finishing second in the shotput in 44-3, second in the hammer throw in 175-11 and third in the discus in 135-11. She also accounted for five points on Tuesday when she placed fourth in the javelin in 107-3.

Gerry totaled 23 points by winning the 5,000 in 18:52.66 and finishing fourth in the 3,000 in 10:59.60 on Saturday, and placing second in the 10,000 in 41:06.69 on Tuesday.

Bakersfield totaled 208 points in the men’s meet to win its seventh consecutive conference title.

Moorpark defeated Bakersfield in a mini-meet earlier this season, but the Raiders couldn’t overcome the Renegades’ depth Saturday and finished second with 155 points.