The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.

Hurdler Evan Skovronski and thrower Evan McDaniel blew away the competition to win Northern California track and field titles at American River College in Sacramento over the weekend.

The duo leads College of San Mateo’s qualifiers for the state finals, which the Bulldogs will host at College Heights Stadium on Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 18.

Skovronski led throughout his 400-meter hurdles race, lowering his own CSM record to 52.32 seconds and improving upon his No. 3 state ranking time. He beat Ryan Colebrook of Fresno City College by more than three tenths of a second.

National leader Evan McDaniel won the shot by nearly six feet with a put of 57 feet, 2 3/4  inches — in the hunt for that elusive 60-foot mark.

Butte’s Austin Harlicker was the only other thrower to surpass 50 feet, placing second at 51-3 3/4.

McDaniel also placed third in the discus throw at 159-6 (behind the state’s top two throwers) and fifth with the hammer (167-8) to reach the state finals on his home field in three events.

Collin Luu placed just behind McDaniel in the discus to earn a state berth.

McDaniel’s shot best of 58-4 leads all U.S. community college athletes and his discus mark of 159-6 ranks No. 9.

San Mateo Javelin throwers Scott Chisea and Anthony Capitulo did not have their best day, but still advanced to the state finals. Both threw 183-2, with Chisea getting the tie-breaker for fifth place.

CSM’s 4×100-meter relay team of Ryan Batte, Erik Hammond, Dijonn Williams and Skovronski finished sixth in 42.14, just missing the fifth place state meet consideration spot.

San Mateo’s 4×400-meter relay team of Gabriel Ortiz (49.4), Skovronski (48.5), Zach Cantu (40.5) and Williams (49.1) ran a season best 3:16.47, finishing seventh.

Williams was also 12th in the long jump at 21-4.

Anthony Cortes finished 15th in the 5,000 meters in 16:41.34.

Host American River won the men’s championship with 128 points. San Mateo was seventh with 47.

On the women’s side, Moreen Pahulu qualified for the state finals in two throwing events, placing fifth in the javelin throw (110-11) and sixth in the shot put (36-8 1/2). She was also seventh in the discus throw (119-11) and eighth in the hammer throw (146-8).

Sprinter Breanna Navarro finished sixth in a tough 100-meter race with a 12.23.

The California Community Colleges Athletic Association’s state championship competition begins 9:30 a.m. Friday with the men’s decathlon 100 meters.

The only track finals that day are the 10,000 meter races.

There will be eight field event finals on Friday: the hammer and javelin throws and the long and high jumps, for women and men — starting at 10 a.m. and concluding at approximately 5 p.m.

On Saturday, competition continues in the decathlon at 9 a.m. and the heptathlon at 10 a.m.

Field event finals begin at 12:15 p.m. with the men’s shot put, featuring CSM’s McDaniel.