M. Track & Field: Cerritos wins SCC Championship

File Photo: Dionbrea Norris won the conference championship in the long jump and placed fourth in the triple jump
File Photo: Dionbrea Norris won the conference championship in the long jump and placed fourth in the triple jump

The Cerritos College men's track and field team won five events on Friday at Mt. San Antonio College to help push them over the top and win the South Coast Conference championship. It marked just the second conference championship for the Falcons (2009) and it secured a double championship, as the women also won the title. Cerritos finished with 259.5 team points and beat the Mounties, who came in second place with 221 points. The team will now look to build on their championship at the South California Prelims, which will take place next Saturday at Antelope Valley College.

The largest point production for the Falcons on the day came in the 800 meters, as the team comprised the first six finishers, which earned them 36 points, while the 1500-meter relay netted them 30 team points. Just the points produced in those two events (66) alone were more than five teams over the course of the entire championships.

In the 800 meters, sophomore Adam Vega (La Serna HS/Whitter College) won the championship with a time of 1:55.95, while freshman Jesus Morales (Huntington Park HS) placed second in 1:56.70 and sophomore DeShaunte Lewis (Long Beach Poly HS) earned a third place finish with a time of 1:56.81. Sophomore Thomas Poston (El Dorado HS) won the SCC championship in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:56.37, which moves him into fifth on the school's all-time list. Lewis came in second place in 3:58.23, while freshman Jonathan Bazinet (California HS) took third place in 4:00.76.

Also winning a conference championship was sophomore Brandon Taylor (Mayfair HS), who turned in a time of 15:10.46 to win the 5000 meters by :11 seconds over the second place finisher. Sophomore Mustafa Kahssay (Western HS) came in third place at 15:26.73. A week earlier, Taylor won the conference title in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Freshman Adam Aguirre (Cantwell HS) cleared 2.07 meters in the high jump to win the conference championship, while sophomore Dionbrea Norris (Long Beach Millikan HS) leaped 7.25 meters to barely win the long jump. Freshman Bobby Villegas (Bell Gardens HS) earned a second place in the discus (38.63 meters) and finished fourth in the shot put at 12.82 meters.

Below are top three Falcon finishers in each event of the SCC Championships:

400 Meters - Elisha Toler (3rd)
800 Meters - Adam Vega (1st), Jesus Morales (2nd), DeShaunte Lews (3rd)
1500 Meters - Thomas Poston (1st), DeShaunte Lewsi (2nd), Jonathan Bazinet (3rd)
5000 Meters - Brandon Taylor (1st), Mustafa Kahssay (3rd)
10,000 Meters - Munir Kahssay (1st), Omar Torres (2nd), Mustafa Kahssay (3rd)
3000-Meter Steeplechase - Brandon Taylor (1st)
High Jump - Adam Aguirre (1st)
Long Jump - Dionbrea Norris (1st)
Triple Jump - Ricky Carrigan, Jr. (1st)
Shot Put - Joe Leonard (3rd)
Discus - Bobby Villegas (2nd)
Hammer - Joe Leonard (1st)
Javelin - Adam Aguirre (2nd)

Photo by Daryl Peterson