Tigers Perform Well at Southern California Multi-event Championships last Tuesday & Wednesday

NORWALK -- Two decathletes from the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers Men's Track and Field team had a great two days at the Southern California (SoCal) Multi-event Championships at Cerritos College last Tuesday and Wednesday (Apr. 5-6).

Freshman Chad Ponciano (Alta Loma / Alta Loma HS '15) -- who is pictured at the top of the podium -- and sophomore Cole Hicks (Elsinore HS) had a great showing at the SoCal Multi-event Championships and have qualified for next month's California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Men's Track and Field Championships (May 20-21) at San Diego Mesa College.

Ponciano won the SoCal Championships with a new P.R. (personal record) of 6,111 points.

Ponciano is the third SoCal Decathlon champion for the Tigers in the past four years. Also winning the SoCal Decathlon were Phillip Bailey (2014) and Jordon Morris (6,327 points in 2013). In 2015, RCC's Jherrel Charles took second in the event with a score of 6,168 points.

The Tigers have had at least one decathlete qualify for the state championship in each of the last nine seasons.

Hicks, who also qualified for the CCCAA Championships in 2015 when he finished sixth with a total of 5,636 points at the 2015 SoCals, finished fourth at the 2016 SoCals with a total of 5,683 points.

Their placement secured 15 points for RCC in the Southern California Championship meet on May 14 at Antelope Valley College.

"This is a great start for the Tigers as they try to make a run at a Southern California title," said RCC fourth-year throws coach Nick Robinson.

RCC will be in action this weekend at the Cerritos Invitational, Frida-Saturday, Apr. 8-9, in Norwalk.

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http://www.cccaasports.org/Track/2016SoCalHepDec_ChampResultsM.pdf

Results can be found on finishedresults.com and/or directathletics.com

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