Conatser nails hammer throw, wins javelin and discus
Remy Conaster currently holds the national junior college record for hammer throw. (Tameem Seraj)
All eyes were on Saddleback College weightman Remy Conatser at last week’s three-way track and field meet with Orange Empire conference rivals Golden West and Fullerton colleges.
Host Saddleback finished last in men’s competition, but that didn’t stop Conatser from winning the hammer throw event.
That’s no surprise, though.
Conatser set the national junior college record in the hammer throw event March 10 at the Ben Brown Invitational at California State Fullerton.
Conatser had a throw of 65.73 meters which is the equivalent of 215.8 feet, breaking the previous record held by Dave Loshonkohl with a throw of 212.1 feet back in 1993.
Conatser never threw a hammer before he walked on to the team last year. His best throw on Friday was 65.02 meters which is equivalent to 213.4 feet. He won the hammer throw event easily but felt like he should have performed better.
“It was a solid performance but I got a lot better in me,” Conatser said.
He also competes in javelin throw, discus throw, and shot put.
On Friday he placed first in javelin throw with a best of 52.63 meters and first in discus throw with a best of 47.8 meters. He placed second in shot put with a best of 13.4 meters.
According to the Saddleback Athletics department, Conatser is close to signing a letter of intent to attend University of Southern California and recieving scholarships.
Saddleback also placed first in the following events; men’s 110-meter hurdle, men’s 400-meter hurdle, women’s 1,500-meter run, women’s 3,000-meter run, women’s discus throw and women’s hammer throw.
Vince Fusco won the men’s 110- and 400-meter hurdles with times of 14.99 and 55.26 respectively for the Gauchos.
Ana Karen Gamboa won the women’s 1,500-meter run for the Gauchos with a time of 5:05.20. Amy Jystad won the women’s 3,000 meter run with a time of 11:34.52.
The women’s discus throw was won by Jerrilynn Stanwood with a throw of 42.65 meters. Saddleback took the top three positions in women’s hammer throw. The top performer was Elizabeth Tepe with a throw of 53.94 meters.
Despite all of these first-place finishes, Saddleback men placed third overall and the women placed second overall. Their next meet will be the Tiny Lister Invitational on April 7 at California State Los Angeles.