Facing host Mt. San Antonio College and Rio Hondo College in a three-way South Coast Conference meet on Friday, the Cerritos College men's swimming team recorded a split. The Falcons (2-2) defeated the Roadrunners, 229-39, but dropped a 187-94 decision against the host Mounties. The team will now travel to East Los Angeles College on Friday for a 12:30 p.m. conference meet that also includes Chaffey College.

Against the Mounties, Cerritos finished in second place in eight different events, while they picked up victories in two other races. Freshman Eugene Runas (Long Beach Millikan HS) won both races for the Falcons, as he posted a time of 59.99 in the 100-yard breaststroke, while his clocking of 2:15.56 edged Aaron Clancy (2:15.99) of the Mouties in the 200-yard breaststroke.

In the 200-yard medley relay, the quartet of sophomore Enrico Hidalgo (Kennedy HS), Runas, freshman Nathan Umpornpuckdi (Kennedy HS) and freshman Joshua Owens (Kennedy HS) were edged by the Mounties by less than a second, with the Falcons recording a time of 1:42.72. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the same foursome posted a second place time of 3:24.64 and trailed Mt. SAC by three seconds.

Owens and Umpornpuckdi also had a pair of second place finishes in individual races, with Owens posting a time of 1:48.39 in the 200-yard freestyle and was beat by a scant .39 seconds, while his clocking of 22.90 in the 50-yard freestyle put him behind Jaye Chang (22.34). As for Umpornpuckdi, he took second in the 100-yard butterfly (55.05) and 200-yard butterfly (2:06.10), while Hidalgo was edged by Nichols in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.86. Sophomore diver Scott Robles (Murietta Valley HS) finished with 163.20 points in the 1-meter diving event to place second on the day.

Photo by Daryl Peterson