Track and Field: Long Beach’s Dunson is state champion in triple jump, Jones fifth in steeplechase

Long Beach City College freshman Chantel Dunson closed out 2015 with her best jump of the season. Her mark of 11.59 meters (38-0 1/4) earned her a first-place finish in the triple jump at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Track and Field State Championship at College of San Mateo on Saturday.

Dunson easily surpassed her previous season-best mark of 11.47 meters set at last week's Southern California Championship preliminaries to take the state title. Dunson beat second-place Ariel Thomas of Cerritos College by one foot, as Thomas jumped 11.28 meters.

She is LBCC's first track and field state champion since Jonathan Sanders captured a state title in the 400-meter hurdles in 2011 and the first female to since win a state championship since Angela Wells took the long jump in 2006.

Dunson's 10 points for the state-championship victory earned the Long Beach women 10 points. LBCC finished in 29th place overall.

Also for the Vikings, sophomore Jared Jones closed out his LBCC career with a fifth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He clocked in at 9:37.03 in his final competition for Long Beach.

The men's 4x100-meter relay team of Anterio Bateman, Jordan Noble, Damond Burns, and Jacob Thorton did not finish its race. The squad was disqualified for running out of the lane on the first exchange.

 Jones earned four points for the Long Beach men to give the Vikings a 32nd-place team finish.