Men’s Track & Field land Atop Podium at RCC Early Bird Invitational

The Riverside City College men's track & field team kicked off its 2023 campaign by hosting the RCC Early Bird Invitational on Friday in Wheelock Stadium. The Tigers edged out second place finisher, San Diego Mesa, by six points to haul in the top spot with 236 overall points.

Sophomore Donal Aluesi continued to pace the team as he finished first in the Hammer (158' 5") and the Shot Put (49' 9 ¾"). It is his second-consecutive showing where he has led the field in both events. He fouled in the Discus.

Riverside swept the podium in the Hammer with freshman Christian Burroughs (142' 4") placing second and Jose Fierro-Gonzalez (137' 5") earning the bronze. Burroughs went on to place first in the Discus (143' 4") and earn the silver in the Shot Put (48' 4 ½").

Freshman David Nwineh earned a second place mark in the Discus (137' 8"), while freshman Anthony MCCullough earned a fourth place finish in the Javelin (150' 2") to round out the throwers.

Freshman Quinten Flowers bagged a pair of first place finishes coming in the Triple Jump (42' 9 ¾") and the Long Jump (20 10 ¾"). He won the Long Jump by three fourths of an inch, while out leaping the second-place triple jumper by over two inches. Freshman Samuel Willis tied for first place in the High Jump (5' 8 ¾").

Riverside's relay teams performed at a high level with the 4 x 400 M (3:20.20) placing first overall. The squad was comprised of freshman Mekhi Gilmore, sophomore Luke Gleason, freshman Charile Ruiz and freshman Mason Fara.

They continued on to place second in the 4,000 Medley Relay (10:23.98) compliments of sophomore Kyle Reden, sophomore Gonzalo Sanchez, Gilmore and Gleason. Sophomore Osvaldo Torres, freshman Quinten Harper, sophomore Edwin Gonzalez and sophomore Jabari McMillan nearly snapped the tape in the 4 x 100 M Relay (43.80) to earn second place.

Riverside's 4 x 800 M Relay (7:54.28) placed second by just over a second complements of sophomore Angel Sanchez, Gleason, Reden and G. Sanchez.

Freshman Samuel Willis placed second in the 60 M Hurdles (9.15) by a mere .13 seconds

Riverside was the lone competitor in the 400 M Hurdles and saw freshman Bryan Zamora (1:06.08) finish first. Harper (1:07.76) and Osvaldo (1:07.79) followed consecutively in a photo finish.

Sophomore Vincent Navarro placed second in the Two Mile (9:49.64), while sophomore Joshua Hornsby placed third in the 300 M (34.52).