RIVERSIDE — One of the most anticipated showdowns at Saturday's CCCAA Southern California track and field finals lived up to its hype, but not for right reasons.
The 100-meter race between Riverside City College speedster Just'n Thymes and Mt. SAC's Kyree King fizzled when King was disqualified for a false start.
Thymes went on to win the race in an impressive 10.19 seconds, but a protest, which included numerous coaches and officials viewing a video of the start, ended with the disqualification being upheld.
The controversial race didn't slow the Tigers or Thymes, who went on to beat King in the 200 meters and then ran a blistering leg on the Tigers 4x400 relay team to cap the meet and help lead RCC to its third straight SoCal team title and sixth in seven seasons.
"I couldn't let that bother me," Thymes said of the disqualification of his top rival. "I knew I had a job to do so I stayed focused."
The RCC women's team finished third behind perennial powers Mt. SAC and Cerritos, but the Tigers' 102.5 points were more than anticipated. Both the men's and women's teams head to next week's state championships at Mt. SAC in good shape.
"All of the girls did what they were supposed to do or better," RCC women's coach Damien Smith said. "I'm really happy with the effort that they gave today."
On the men's side, freshman Keithyon Moten edged Cerritos freshman Mackenzi Rickman in the 110 hurdles 14.48 to 14.49 in one of the closest races of the day. Moten said all the freshmen are aware of RCC's history and come into the program wanting to maintain the excellence.
"The bar is the same for everybody, no exceptions," he said.
Riverside's Connor Einck and Ryan Kent finished 1-2 in the discus throw, while Einck also won the shot put with teammate Gabriel Vargas finishing second. Kent and Einck placed second and third, respectively, in the hammer throw.
Jacob Porter and Zachary Lewis also advanced in the 400 hurdles.
San Bernardino Valley's Ahmed Abdul-Rahman was third in the discus throw and Darrian Frazier finished second in the triple jump.
The Wolverines' Anamacio Cardenas just took up the steeplechase but placed third in a personal best-time of 9:32.56.
"In cross country I didn't run SoCal or at the state meet so that was my goal," he said, adding he tried the 5,000 but had better success in the steeplechase.
"I'm happy with the time, but sad I couldn't stay with (the top two)."
RCC freshman Maria Morales was strong in the middle distances, placing second in the 800 and fourth in the 1,500. She wasn't the only freshman on the women's team to stand out as Shebanet'te Terry and Shemanet'te Terry were second and fourth, respectively, in the 400 in 55.97 and 56.22. Shebanet'te Terry also placed fourth in the 200. In Friday's action, Taylor Coffelt won the javelin with a throw of 140 feet and is the top contender at state.
"I feel like we're ready for state," Thymes said.
