Riverside City claims SoCal Men's Track and Field Championship
MISSION VIEJO - Riverside City College won the 3C2A SoCal Championship Saturday, heading into the State Championship next week on a high note.
The Tigers posted 183 points, edging out Mt. San Antonio College (149 points) and San Diego Mesa College (125).
Isaiah Butler won the hammer with a mark of 52.81 meters, while Adam Torres followed in second, just about a meter behind Butler (51.84 meters). Omar Sanchez finished in fifth with a toss of 47.48 meters.
Butler also won the discus with a mark of 50.61 meters to lead a trio of Tigers. Joseph Garcia followed in second (50.10 meters), while Justice Brown took third at 43.89 meters.
Marcellus Linton won the 100-meter dash in 10.50 seconds, while Jason Sherman took eighth in 10.84 seconds. Linton also won the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 21.30 seconds – 21.293 to be exact – to edge out Pasadena City College's sprinter by .003 seconds.
Brown won the shot put with a mark of 15.53 meters, while Adam Torres took second at 14.84 meters.
Bryson Williamson won the high jump with a mark of 2.10 meters, which is the best mark in the State this year. He had three good looks at the next level (2.15 meters) but couldn't quite make it over. Williamson will get another chance at the 3C2A championship.
Kailil O'Brien finished third in the 3K steeplechase with a time of 9:45.81. Leo Valencia followed in sixth at 9:54.21.
Orlando Collins took third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.88 seconds, while Jared Schulte posted a time of 48.24 seconds to take sixth.
Daniel Agbelusi finished second in the 400-meter hurdles, with Rowan Hudson taking fifth (54.60 seconds).
Rowan Hudson and Tschaikowsky Brown came one right after the other in the 110-meter hurdles. Hudson took fourth in 15.07 seconds, while Brown took fifth in 15.11 seconds.
Devyn Smith took fifth in the triple jump, hitting 13.87 meters on his fifth try. Kendrick Bracy wasn't far behind him, taking sixth with a mark of 13.73 meters.
Martin Sandoval took seventh in the 1500-meter race, clocking in at 4:05.34.
The Tigers came up just short in the 4x100 relay, crossing the finish line in 41.22 seconds – less than .3 seconds from first place.
Riverside heads to Northern California for the 3C2A State Championship meet, held May 16-17 at the College of San Mateo.
(Sammi Wellman, Riverside City Athletics)