Tiger Tracksters Take Second Annual "The Dual" at Mt. San Antonio
WALNUT -- The Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's track and field squad came through again to win the second annual RCC versus Mt. SAC dual meet, 84-61, Friday afternoon (Feb. 14) at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mt. San Antonio College.
The competition was close throughout the day, but the Tigers sealed the deal with a 2-3 finish in the 2-mile and a convincing victory in the 4x400 (3:13).
The performance of the day came from sophomore spinter Just'n Thymes, who signed a full-ride scholarship to Texas A&M last week. Thymes ran :32.92 in the 300 meters and his teammate Sterling Winston took second, clocking :33.90. "Just'n ran an amazing race, and recorded one of the fastest 300 meters in community college history, and one of the fastest times in the nation this season," said RCC head coach Jim McCarron. "Just'n also won the 60- meter dash with a time of :06.73. The RCC 4x100 and 4x400 teams also were victorious, clocking :40.9 and 3:13, respectively.
The most exciting race of the day was the 600-meter run where Josh Jeter, a 400 intermediate hurdler for the Tigers, won with a time of 1:20.08. Pedro Herrera of MSAC was second (1:20.62) and RCC's Luis Gutierrez was third, running 1:20.69. Gutierrez cruised to victory in the mile running 4:24, and Michael Waltrip (9:40) and Douglas Negrete (9:47) came up big in the 2-mile run with 2nd- and 3rd-place finishes.
In the 60-meter hurdles, Keithyon Moten ran a fast 8.35 to cruise to victory, and his teammate Phillip Bailey was second at 8.65. Bailey also won the long jump with a leap of 22'11" and he took 3rd in the javelin with a toss of 156'7". "Phillip (Bailey) is ready to represent the Tigers well in the decathlon this season. He has personal bests in almost all the events during the first two meets of the season," added McCarron. "In the 400IH, Jacob Porter won convincingly, clocking 53.23."
The performance of the meet on the field came from Gabe Vargas, who threw a state-leading 54'6" in the shot put. Gabe also won the discus with a throw of 168'11". AJ Hop had a fantastic day in the pole vault, taking second with a jump of 15'5.75." In all, the Tigers won 12 of the 17 events contested.
"We were very pleased with how our team stepped up today (Friday) against a very strong Mt. SAC squad. "Winning the 2nd annual 'the Dual' and bringing the 'Cup' back to RCC will be a big motivator moving forward this season," continued McCarron.
Full results for the meet can be found on www.flashwest.com and www.directathletics.com
The Tigers have their home opener this Thursday, Feb. 20, at 3 p.m. against Saddleback College, and then the Tigers will feature another big home meet on March 8 when they host three Division 1 teams, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton and Pepperdine.
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