Tigers Take Home 16th-Straight OEC Title
Riverside City College won its 16th-straight Orange Empire Conference, running away with 452 team points. Orange Coast College followed with 164 points, while Saddleback took third with 99 points.
The Tigers entered the final day of the championship with 157 points and saw 12 individual champions crowned, pushing the tally to 17 over the two days.
Edward Ta'amilo grabbed his third OEC individual championship after dominating the discus with a throw of 55.57 meters. It beat out the competition by 11 meters, with Isaiah Butler following in second with a mark of 44.94 meters.
Quinten Flowers won the triple jump with a mark of 14.15 meters and Devyn Smith took third with a jump of 13.45 meters.
Anthony Ruiz won the 1500-meter race, clocking in at 4:06.43, while Jack Slavin was right on his tail at 4:06.81. Ruiz picked up another championship in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:58.93. Slavin took second in 1:59.36.
It was all Riverside in the 110-meter hurdles, with Tschaikowsky Brown leading the Tigers with a time of 14.97 seconds. Rowan Hudson followed in 15.32 seconds, while Levi Vela crossed the finish line in 16.10 seconds for third.
Brown also won the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 55.69 seconds, while Hudson took second in 56.23 seconds.
Elijah Davis took first in the 400-meter race with a time of 48.72 seconds and Jason Deal grabbed third in 49.12 seconds.
Marcellus Linton sprinted through to a 10.61-second 100-meter dash to win the championship and Jacob Petrick grabbed second in 10.81 seconds. Linton followed with a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash in 21.50 seconds, while Petrick took third in 21.88 seconds.
Ernesto Ruiz won his third OEC Championship with a first-place finish in the 5K, clocking in at 14:36.99. Kailil O'Brien took third in 15:42.25.
Both of RCC's relay teams won their respective races, with the 4x100 team grabbing a time of 41.70 seconds and the 4x400 team posting a time of 3:19.67.
Bryson Williamson took second in the high jump (2.00 meters) and Zachary Owens followed in third (1.90 meters).
The Tigers head to the Southern California Championship, with prelims taking place Friday, May 3, at 9 a.m.