The Cerritos College men's track and field team won six events at the South Coast Conference Championships and finished in second place as a team with 240 points. Winning the team championship was Mt. San Antonio College with 306.5 points, with the two teams dominating the majority of the events. Next up is the Southern California Prelims, which will take place May 3 at Riverside City College.

Earning a pair of conference championships was freshman Francisco Ortiz (Katella HS), as he turned in a time of 1:57.40 to win the 800 meters, with his time of 4:06.62 edging out two teammates in the 1500 meters. That race came down to the final stride for three Falcons, who all finished virtually at the same time. Taking second place was sophomore Jonathan Bazinet (California HS) with a time of 4:06.94, with freshman Anthony Lozano (La Serna HS) earning third place in 4:06.95. In the 800 meters, Ortiz won that race by a full second, while three Cerritos runners were also in contention. Finishing in third through fifth places were sophomores Jesus Morales (Huntington Park HS), George Robinson (Washington Prep HS) and David Pleitez (Lakewood HS).

The duo of sophomore Terrell White (Washington Prep HS) and freshman Mike Ewell (Long Beach Wilson HS) took the top two places in the 400 meters. White won the event in a time of 48.33, with Ewell placing second in 49.02. Sophomore distance runner Elvis Salinas (Norwalk HS) won the 10,000 meters with a time of 32.28.69, while he took fourth place in the 5000 meters at 15:42.06.

Freshman hurdler Mackenzi Rickman (Carson HS) won the 400-meter IH in 54.96, while his time of 14.70 was good for second place in the 110-meter HH. Freshman Thomas Cheval (Birmingham HS) was a close third in 14.75.

School record holder in the high jump, sophomore Adam Aguirre (Cantwell HS) had to settle for second place with a height of 2.00 meters, but he easily won the javelin with a distance of 57.10, which is the fourth best in school history. Cheval came in second place in the long jump at 7.14 meters, with Aguirre right behind in third place at 7.11 meters. Freshman Matthew Seawright (Long Beach Millikan HS) earned the team points with a pair of third place finishes. He posted a distance of 43.87 in the discus and his throw of 47.10 meters was good for third place in the hammer. Freshman Jaime Vega (Downey HS) turned in a second place leap of 13.96 meters in the triple jump, with freshman Andrew Prieto (El Rancho HS) coming in third place with a throw of 13.46 meters in the shot put.

Photos by Daryl Peterson