Cerritos College freshman decathlete Thomas Cheval (Birmingham HS) used the close competition to help push him toward establishing the nation's best point total this year among community college athletes. Cheval, who won the CCCAA State Championship at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday, finished with 7175 points, which also established a new school record. His point total surpassed Falcon head coach Chris Richardson, who scored 6980 in winning the 2005 state title. As a team, Cerritos came in third place with 64 team points, which is their second-best finish in school history. The team came in second place in 2009.

For Cheval, he led early on in the competition and then went back and forth with Mt. SAC's Miles Poullard, who scored big first-day points with his clearance of 7' 1" in the high jump. Trailing by 64 points heading into the final event (1500 meters), Cheval went out and set a very fast pace and came in second place with a time of 4:36.90, which earned him 700 points. It was more than Poullard could handle, as he slipped back and finished the race in 5:13.37, which netted him only 485 points and allowed Cheval to win the championship while setting a school record and posting the nation's best point total among community college athletes this year.

Cerritos also had a state champion in sophomore Jonathan Bazinet (California HS) in the 1500 meters, as he pulled ahead on the final turn and finished with a time of 3:56.39. Freshman teammate Francisco Ortiz (Katella HS) was a third place finisher in 3:58.05, while his time of 1:54.66 in the 800 meters garnered him a sixth place.

Sophomore Adam Aguirre (Cantwell HS), who entered the state championships with a state-leading height of 2.19 meters, settled for second place with a height of 2.07 meters, while his javelin throw of 55.51 meters earned him an eighth place. Sophomore Terrell White (Washington Prep HS) ran in both the 200 meters (21.43; 7th place) and 400 meters (47.49; 4th place), while also helping the 1600-meter relay team finished on second place with a time of 3:11.17 and was joined by Travis Thomas, Michael Ewell (Long Beach Wilson HS) and Michael Jolly (Paramount HS) to record the fourth fastest time in school history

CERRITOS COLLEGE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

200 Meters - Terrell White - 21.43 - 7th Place
400 Meters - Terrell White - 47.49 - 4th Place
800 Meters - Francisco Ortiz - 1:54.66 - 6th Place
1500 Meters - Jonathan Bazinet - 3:56.39 - State Champion
1500 Meters - Francisco Ortiz - 3:58.05 - 3rd Place
10,000 Meters - Elvis Salinas - 33:45.37 - 9th Place
110-Meter HH - Mackenzi Rickman - 14.56 - 4th Place
400-Meter Relay - 41.70 - 5th Place
1600-Meter Relay - 3:11.17 - 2nd Place
Long Jump - Thomas Cheval - 6.89 meters - 7th Place
High Jump - Adam Aguirre - 2.07 meters - 2nd Place
Triple Jump - Jaime Vega - 13.68 meters - 12th Place
Hammer - Matthew Seawright - 46.46 meters - 12th Place
Javelin - Adam Aguirre - 55.51 meters - 8th Place
Decathlon - Thomas Cheval - 7175 Points - State Champion

Photos by Daryl Peterson