California Collegiate Athletics Association

CCAA Selects 2020 Women's Track & Field All-Star Team

May 12, 2020

After the CCAA Softball and Baseball All-Star Teams were unveiled the last two weeks, today, we reveal the 2020 CCAA Women’s Track & Field All-Star Team, with the men scheduled to follow next week. 

The list of 32 student-athletes mirrors the championship roster size for CCAA track & field, and is not bound by specific events. All 13 programs were guaranteed one representative to showcase talent across the league. These standout performers were submitted for consideration by the league’s women’s track & field sports information contacts, with additional nominees listed, by school, at the bottom.

The All-Stars are selected based solely on performances and marks achieved during the shortened spring season, therefore some big names in the sport are absent based on the limited number of competition dates. Each individual picked has a worthy standard set during the 2020 outdoor season to earn their All-Star selection.

A group of six sprinters made the list, with each CCAA event leader earning an All-Star nod. In the 100, Cal State LA junior Valexsia Droughn paced the early 2020 performances, clocking in at 11.61 seconds to reach the D2 provisional qualifying standard which was the second-fastest mark in DII this spring. Droughn, a native of Oxnard, was the 2019 CCAA Champion in the 100. She is joined by fellow sprinters, Zaria Francis (12.02 s | 2nd CCAA | 4th DII) of Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino’s Maya Price (12.26 s | 3rd CCAA | 7th DII). Price’s time is good for a Coyotes’ school record. The trio take up the top three spots on the conference leaderboard, and each stand in the top 10 nationally, as well. 

Francis’ Bronco teammate Ayana Fields also makes the cut as her time of 24.00 seconds in the 200 led the nation and earned her a provisional time. She was also selected to compete in the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in the 200 and 400 before the championship event was cancelled. Both Fields and Francis were also part of the 4x100 meter relay squad which put Cal Poly Pomona at fifth in the country.

The 400 meters sees Cal State San Marcos freshman Sierra Roberson (57.56 s | 1st CCAA | 5th DII) joined by senior from Cal State Dominguez Hills Maryjane Smith (58.73 s | 4th CCAA) earning a spot on the All-Star listings. 

Defending CCAA champion in the 400 meter hurdles, UC San Diego senior Claudia Cox posted a provisional qualifying time of 1:00.94 to open the season for the Tritons. Her mark is first in the conference and second in the country in the early-goings of the season.

The middle distances see a pair from Cal State San Marcos finding their names on the All-Star listings. Junior Clarissa Garcia leads the CCAA and Division II in the 800 meters, as she posted a mark of 2:15.52 for the Cougars. In the 1,500, junior Marina McDonough (4:36.87 | 1st CCAA | 1st DII)  is tops on the league and national listings, with Garcia (4:37.03 | 2nd CCAA | 2nd DII) right behind. Cal State East Bay’s Angie Ronquillo (4:43.70 | 5th CCAA | 6th DII) started off her spring strong after racing to cross country All-American honors in the fall.

2019 CCAA Cross Country champion Destiny Everett (17:41.93 | 1st CCAA | 4th DII) took the early league lead in the 5,000 meters, with Chico State teammate Taylor Bailey (17:49.23 | 2nd CCAA | 9th DII) right behind. Sonoma State’s Alana Reyna (19:32.37 | 13th CCAA) is representing the Seawolves in her first year of collegiate competition.

Six Stanislaus State distance runners grace the lists after meeting the Division II provisional qualifying standard in the 10,000 meters. Packing to the finish in their meet in Turlock, the Warriors ran 12 women in the field. Stanislaus State school record holder Cynthia Mejia (35:47.34 | 1st CCAA | 1st DII) was followed by Clarissa Morales (35:48.10 | 2nd CCAA | 2nd DII), and freshman Kaela Dishion (35:53.39 | 3rd CCAA | 3rd DII). Next to cross was Sabrina Garcia (36:04.58 | 4th CCAA | 4th DII), with Iris Carrillo (36:08.92 | 5th CCAA | 5th DII) and Nancy Juarez (36:14.03 | 6th CCAA | 6th DII) rounding out the provisional qualifiers in their first time extending out to the 10K distance in the spring.

Moving from the track to the field events, two freshman pole vaulters make the list, with CCAA-leader Naomi Chin (3.65 m | 1st CCAA | 3rd DII) of UC San Diego narrowly missing the provisional mark by less than an inch. She is joined by first-year vaulter for San Francisco State, Amy Christensen (3.20 m | 9th CCAA). 

Senior Erikka Linn (12.11 m | 1st CCAA | 1st DII) paces the conference and the country in the triple jump with a provisional mark, followed by Cal State LA senior Javany McDermott (11.62 m | 2nd CCAA | 3rd DII). McDermott also finds her name high on the performance list in the high jump, as one of seven CCAA women in the national top 10.

Four senior high jumpers made the All-Star Team. Leading the CCAA lists in the high jump is UC San Diego’s Chelsea Challacombe (1.67 m | 1st CCAA | 3rd DII). Competing for Chico State, senior Kaylee Shoemaker (1.64 m | 2nd CCAA | 4th DII) is next on the league leaderboard, with Humboldt State’s Brailee VandenBoom (1.63 m | 3rd CCAA | 5th DII) right behind. Multi-event student-athlete Franchesca Shepard (1.62 m | 5th CCAA | 8th DII) of Stanislaus State also makes the national top 10 list, with McDermott (1.60 m | 7th CCAA | 10th DII) doubling up with a solid early-season benchmark in two events. 

In the throws, a trio of women earned provisional marks in their respective events. Cal Poly Pomona sophomore thrower Ana Tovi (DT: 46.28 m | 1st CCAA | 3rd DII - SP: 13.77 m | 1st CCAA | 3rd DII) leads the conference in two disciplines, and earned a provisional standard in the discus to go along with a personal best throw in the shot put. UC San Diego senior Gabby Eshiet (HT: 52.66 m | 1st CCAA | 2nd DII - SP: 13.74 m | 2nd CCAA | 4th DII) holds the top mark in the league in the hammer throw and is one of two women to post a provisional mark in 2020. Stanislaus State’s Shepard (JT: 41.89 m | 1st CCAA | 6th DII -HEP: 4,438 pts | 1st CCAA | 3rd DII) also earned a provisional standard in the javelin in her outdoor season opener and she lands in the national top 10 in three events. 

Tayler Salley (HT: 50.50 m | 2nd CCAA | 4th DII - DT: 37.71 m | 4th CCAA) of Cal State San Bernardino is right behind Eshiet on the conference performance lists in the hammer throw after setting the school record, and also in the top 5 in the discus. Cal State Monterey Bay’s Mali Seigel (38.31 m | 3rd CCAA) is representing the Otters on the All-Star team after a solid start to her sophomore campaign. 

As earlier highlighted, Shepard of Stanislaus State and Chico State’s Shoemaker are first and third in the CCAA in the heptathlon, respectively. Cal Poly Pomona’s Charisma Byrd (4,326 pts | 2nd CCAA | 4th DII) rounds out our 32 deserving 2020 CCAA All-Star performers. The trio occupy the third, fourth and fifth spots on the national listings in the multi-event discipline.

In addition to the All-Star Team, the 2020 CCAA Women’s Track & Field Championship Scholar was also named by the league office on Tuesday, with Cal State Monterey Bay sophomore Brooke Roy the recipient. Typically awarded at each championship final site, the Championship Scholar Award recognizes the individual in the field who has achieved the highest academic standard among their peers in each conference-sponsored sport.

A native of Camas, Wash., Roy keeps a 4.0 grade-point average in biology. Roy is the third Otter to earn the Championship Scholar award during the 2019-20 academic year, joining fellow runner and cross country honoree Hannah Marin and men’s golfer Max Grieb. Expected to compete in the steeplechase, Roy earned All-CCAA acclaim as a freshman after taking third at the conference championships and besting her own school record. Roy competed twice in 2020, rounding the track and the Kim Duyst Invitational in both the 800 and 1,500 meters. 

The Championship Scholar Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the final CCAA championship site in each conference-sponsored sport. For the spring of 2020, all participating student-athletes in each sport will receive consideration for the award.