Whether it was at Taft, Washington State or now as a professional athlete, Jeshua Anderson has considered the track at Mt. San Antonio College’s Hilmer Lodge Stadium like a second home.

So, it was only fitting the former state and NCAA Division I champion produced the nation’s fastest time this year in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the 56th Mt. San Antonio College Relays.

Anderson clocked 49.43 seconds to not only win the Invitational Elite race, but erase the disappointment of last year’s meet when he suffered a hamstring pull before the second hurdle and was unable to finish the race.

“I’ve been coming here for at least 10 years and since I travel all over the world, I know this is where my family and friends can always come see me run. These are the people who have seen me all throughout high school and college and now as a professional,” Anderson said. “This was a great start for me. To come out with a win against that strong of a field was encouraging.”

Anderson is scheduled to compete Friday at the 105th Drake Relays in Iowa.

COC jumper remains White hot

Although College of the Canyons’ Tim White won’t get credit for setting the junior college meet record at the Mt. SAC Relays, he delivered one of the best jumps of his career Saturday in the Invitational Elite competition.

White won the Mt. SAC junior college competition April 12 with a mark of 52 feet, 9¼ inches, just shy of the 1987 meet record of 53-¾ set by Long Beach City College’s Marcus Hooks.

White returned to Hilmer Lodge Stadium to compete against professional and four-year college athletes, placing fifth with an effort of 53-11¾, the second-best mark of his career.

He produced a lifetime-best leap of 54-1¼ in August to capture the silver medal at the Pan American Junior Championships in Colombia.

Patterson has productive weekend

Louisville freshman Alladia Patterson won the girls seeded shot put Saturday at Mt. SAC with a mark of 38-10, then competed against the invitational field later in the day and finished 12th with an effort of 37-11½.

Patterson also set the program record Friday in the girls open discus with a throw of 114-½ to finish third, with Thousand Oaks’ Alexa Coubal winning the competition with an effort of 125-8½.

Patterson is the top ninth-grader this season in the state in the shot put and fourth in the discus.

More seeded success

West Ranch’s Nathan Bultman won the Mt. SAC seeded boys discus throw with a mark of 168-5, Burroughs’ Matt Schwartz won the seeded boys pole vault (15-6) and Highland’s Jamire Jordan won the seeded boys long jump with a leap of 22-8 ½.

Westlake’s Sean O’Bryan won the boys seeded 300 hurdles (38.45) and St. Francis’ Ross Niederhaus captured the seeded boys 400 in 48.54.

Oaks Christian captured the girls seeded 4 x 100 relay (47.65) and Crescenta Valley was second in the girls seeded 4 x 1,600 relay (21:23.46).

Crescenta Valley’s Emmie Walker prevailed in the girls seeded high jump by clearing 5-4, with Thousand Oaks’ Rachel Craft winning the seeded pole vault by clearing 11 feet, then finishing eighth in the invitational competition. Harvard-Westlake’s Imani Cook-Gist was second in the seeded pole vault, clearing 10-6.

Notre Dame’s Thomas Djergian took second in the seeded boys high jump, clearing 6-6, with Camarillo’s Justin Warren taking second in the boys seeded triple jump (45-9) and West Ranch’s Max Cawley placing third (44-10). Sierra Canyon’s Patrick Gonzales was third in the seeded boys shot put (52-2¾).