Riverside Sees Strong State Qualifying Marks at RCC Open
The Riverside City College men's track & field team hosted their final home meet of the season on Friday in Wheelock Stadium. Under great conditions, the Tigers put together 12 first place showings and 19 podium finishes at the RCC Open.
Riverside stole the show in the field and distance events highlighted by the dominance of Donal Aluesi.
Aluesi placed atop the field in the Shot Put (49' 3"), Discus (152' 4") and Hammer (158' 11"). It is the second-consecutive meet that Aluesi has swept the field. He is the current State leader in the Shot Put, but fell short of his state-best 50' 6" mark set at the Ben Brown Invitational last week.
DeQuan Guillebeau had a strong day by winning the Long Jump (23' 2 ¾") and besting his previous leap. He currently ranks fourth in the state. He finished his day with a second place finish in the Javelin (151' 7").
Brandon Benson inked a solid day by placing second in the Long Jump (21' 11 ¾") and the Triple Jump (45' ½"). Novye James, who is the state leader in the Long Jump, did not compete in his best event today. He focused on the Triple Jump and placed first overall (47' 9 ¾").
Raen Reyes earned a career-best mark in the 1500 M (3:59.16) to placed first overall. His mark currently stands as the 11th strongest in the state. Abel Ramos followed with a first place finish in the 3000 M (8:54.09), while David Rush (9:04.92) and Eric Olivo (9:07.85) finished consecutively.
Joshua Hornsby looked to challenge his state best mark in the 100 M Hurdles, but fell short by tenths of a second. Nevertheless, he placed first overall in the field (14.38).
Hayden Palma placed first in the 400 M Hurdles (55.92), while Tyler Howard finished second (56.77). Xavier Montgomery landed on the podium with a third place finish in the 400 M (50.81).
Riverside rounded out their top finishes with a dominant performance in the 1600 M relay (3:20.61) with a team comprised of Luke Gleason, Noel Bernal, Howard and Montgomery.