M. Track & Field: Cerritos turns in solid marks at open

Victor Williams sets PR in hurdles
Victor Williams sets PR in hurdles

Hosting the Cerritos Open on Saturday, the Cerritos College men's track and field team turned in some solid results, including one that landed on the school's top five marks. Hosting a variety of colleges, including members of the Chinese National Team, the Falcons won five events and took second in two others. The team will now compete in the Beach Opener at Cal State Long Beach over the weekend, while also serving as an event host for the Cal State Los Angeles Invitational on Friday.

Sophomore hurdler Victor Williams (Dorsey HS) turned in a time of 14.40 in the 110-meter HH to finish in second place and also land his name fifth on the school's top five list for that event. He was edged for first place by Leonardo Brown, who ran unattached. Sophomore thrower Jorge Gonzalez (Ventura HS) was a two-time winner, winning both the shot put and discus. His distance of 46' 6 1/4" (13.87 meters) beat out the rest of the field by over a foot, while his best discus mark of 147' 3" (44.89 meters) was nine feet farther than his closest competition.

In the two relay events, the Falcons picked up both a first place and second place finish. They won the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:15.89 and consisted of Daniel Stokes (Diamond Ranch HS/Mt. San Antonio College), Rod Mahoney (Santiago HS/Mt. San Antonio College), Kelly Brown (Wilson Magnet, NY HS/College of the Sequoias) and Kawika Jones (Green Valley, NV HS/Green River, WA College). They were edged by .05 of a second by the Chinese National Team in the 4x100-meter race with the quartet of Brown, Stokes, Jones and Kendall Turner (Hesperia HS/Mt. San Antonio College) posting a time of 40.38. In other sprint races, Jacobi Hardy (Long Beach Wilson HS) posted a fourth place time in the 100 meters at 10.76, with Chinese National Team members taking the top two spots. After the first four Chinese National Team sprinters finished in the 200 meters, Turner (21.83) and Jones (21.87) took the next two spots.

Stokes won the 400 meters with his time of 47.56, while distance runner Alberto Serrano (St. John Bosco HS) posted a time of 4:10.04 to come in seventh place out of 61 runners in the 1500 meters. Williams also competed in the 400-meter IH and finished in sixth place with a clocking of 58.53.

In the field events, Titus Houston (Narbonne HS) came away with the title in the long jump with a distance of 22' 4 1/4" (6.81 meters), with Jonathan Vaoifi (Long Beach Millikan HS) taking fourth place in the hammer at 33.38 meters, with Gonzalez in fifth place with a throw of 32.01 meters. Gonzalez also added a fifth place finish in the javelin with a distance of 43.70 meters.

Photos by Daryl Peterson