Women's track team led GWC spring season

With the end of the spring semester at Golden West comes the end of spring athletics. The 2011 seasons for the swimming, volleyball, track and field, baseball and softball teams have reached their conclusion. Most have ended with disappointment.

The women's track team is one team that saw improvement with added, skilled freshman. "The women's team is the best team in the 21 years I've been here," said head coach Matt Simpson.

Led by Jaci Powell and Tailor Dunigan, the women's team finished third in Orange Empire Conference play, while the men's team finished fourth. Powell and Dungan will represent the Rustlers as they compete in the state championships on May 20-21 at American River College.

The GWC softball team placed seventh in the conference with a 7-14 record in conference play and an 11-24 record overall. Amanda Webster and Sheila Samarin made the All-OEC team, while Cynthia Niersbach and Cristina Jacobo got honorable mentions. Webster and Samarin are both being highly recruited but the schools they will be attending are not known at this time.

"We had a similar record last year, but the two years were different. This year we got better pitching overall, but last year's team probably hit a bit better.

"We do always tend to be a team that finishes the season well, and we did that for sure this year," said head coach Suzy Brazney.

The Rustlers baseball finished with a conference record of 7-15 and was 15-20 overall. This season the team didn't make it to the regional playoffs, like they had in the year prior.

Although there was a little success for these teams in 2011, they retain hope for a successful season in 2012. With many strong freshmen providing an impact this year, the hope for the future may be justified.