Tigers Sit in First Place After First Week of OEC
Riverside City College has a strong lead after the first day of the Orange Empire Conference Friday.
The Tigers sit in first place with 135 points, while Orange Coast College follows with 78 points and host Saddleback College sits in third with 19 points.
Kailil O'Brien won the 3K steeplechase in nine minutes, 38.72 seconds. Leo Valencia grabbed third in 10:05.04 and Angel Gomez finished in fourth in 10:31.40.
O'Brien also won the 10K with a time of 32:10.79. Damion Spralls took fourth in 32:48.59 and Edward Garcia grabbed fifth in 33:01.41.
Adam Torres won the hammer championship after throwing 52.91 meters on his first attempt. Joseph Garcia took fifth with a mark of 43.53 meters.
Bryson Williamson won the high jump after clearing 1.95 meters on his first try. Kendrick Bracy and Xavier Harvey took fourth and fifth with 1.80-meter marks.
Devyn Smith finished in second in the long jump with a mark of 6.76 meters, while Harvey followed in third at 6.72 meters. James Henderson took fifth with a jump of 6.32 meters, Jason Allen finished in sixth with a jump of 6.30 meters, and Jack Slavin rounded out the top eight with a mark of 6.23 meters.
James Henderson grabbed third in the javelin with a toss of 44.46 meters on his last attempt.
Anthony Ruiz and Martin Sandoval won their heats in the 1500-meter run to earn their spots in the championship race. Ruiz posted a prelim time of 4:08.77, while Sandoval finished in 4:09.75. Luke Catherwood and Roberto Granado will also compete in the finale after posting prelim times of 4:10.47 and 4:16.59, respectively.
Jared Schulte and Orlando Collins each posted the best times in their 400-meter heats. Schulte finished in 48.30 seconds, while Collins grabbed a time of 48.42 seconds. Jarius Midgett (50.38 seconds), Andy Masvi (50.46 seconds) and Lance Durazo (51.36 seconds) also earned their spots in the championship race next week.
Marcellus Linton posted the best time in the 100-meter dash prelims at 10.76 seconds. Justin Dean won his heat in 11.22 seconds, while Jason Sherman won his heat in 11.23 seconds. Aaron Lujan and Deyton Ford also secured spots in the championship race with respective times of 11.37 and 11.48 seconds.
Linton also earned his spot in the 200-meter dash championship with a time of 22.24 seconds after winning his heat. Sherman also won his heat in 22.35 seconds. Collins (22.29 seconds), Lujan (22.67 seconds), and Schulte (22.78 seconds) also secured their spots in the championship.
The Tigers stacked the 800-meter run championship race, with six securing spots in it. Martin Sandoval posted the best time of the day (1:56.70), while Ruiz finished in 1:56.83 – which was the best time of his heat. Luke Catherwood (2:02.63), Dyeem Tolbert (1:59.78), Nathan Luce (2:00.83), and Dillon Burhop (2:03.55) also earned a spot in next week's finale.
Daniel Agbelusi finished the 400-meter hurdles in 54.17 seconds to win his prelims heat, while Rowan Hudson won his heat in 54.40 seconds. Ahkil McClellan (57.37 seconds), Peter Mesa (58.03 seconds) and Tschaikowsky Brown (59.38 seconds) will also compete for the conference championship.
The Tigers look to hold onto their lead and win their 17th consecutive OEC Championship next week.