Aluesi Named State’s Athlete of the Year, Men Place Third and Women Place Ninth
Sophomore thrower Donal Aluesi capped his Hall of Fame worthy career for the Riverside City College men's track & field team on Saturday at the 3C2A Championships by earning the state's Athlete of the Year honors. He led his team to a third-place finish after the Tigers hauled in 98 total points.
The Mt. San Antonio College Mounties placed first overall after accumulating 175.5 points, while the San Diego Mesa College Spartans earned the silver medal with 110 points. Riverside rounded out the podium with a third-place finish.
Riverside bested their previous year's finish of fifth place and were just shy of hauling in their first state title since 2019.
Aluesi highlighted the bunch with a second-place finish in the Hammer (175' 10") and the Shot Put (54' 2") and a fifth place mark in the Discus (156' 2").
Freshman Edward Ta'amilo hauled in the gold medal in the Discus (174' 10"), while freshman Christian Burroughs hauled in the bronze medal in the Discus (158' 10").
Sophomore Joshua Hornsby snapped the tape in the 110 M Hurdles (13.85) to hold the lone sub-14 second mark in the event. He was two milliseconds from tying the state meet record.
Sophomroe Darius Hill routed the competition leading to a gold-medal showing in the Long Jump (24' 9 ¾"). He finished third-overall in the High Jump (6' 7").
The 800 M run was a photo finish with sophomore Kyle Reden (1:54.36) coming in second place by four one hundredths of a second. Sophomore Luke Gleason (1:54.66) backed him in third place.
Freshman Ernesto Ruiz crossed the finish line in sixth place in the 3,000 M Steeplechase (9:38.24), while sophomore Gavyn Condit earned eighth place in the 10,000 M (32:41.68). Sophomore Reno Vasquez rounded out the top finished with a seventh-place mark in the Decathlon (5,827).
The Tigers 1600 M Relay (3:15.49) placed fourth overall as well.
For the women, sophomore Alejandra Rosales earned the individual state title in the Discus (148' 2") by approximately five feet. She followed with a fourth-place mark in the Shot Put (41' 9 ¾") and fifth-place showing in the Hammer (148' 11").
Sophomore Zoe Ewell narrowly missed the top five by placing sixth overall in the 100 M (11.89) and the 200 M (24.71). She was a leg in the 1600 M Relay (3:55.98) that placed fifth.
Freshman Dakota Zamarripa finished in ninth place in the 3,000 M Steeplechase (12:54.97), while sophomore Elani Huntley brought up the rear in 12th place in the 1500 M (5:02.40).