The Cerritos College men's track and field team holds an early lead in the South Coast Conference Championships after six finals events were held at Mt. San Antonio College on Tuesday. The Falcons have compiled 101 team points and lead the host Mounties, who sit in second place with 74 points. The remaining events of the SCC Championships will be held at Mt. SAC on Friday with Cerritos represented by 21 entries and a pair of relay teams.

Leading the way in finals events were a quartet of distance runners, who picked up a large bulk of the team points. In the 10,000 meters, sophomore Munir Kahssay (Western HS), who came in second place at the state championships last season, won the SCC title with a time of 31:10.65. Freshman Omar Torres (Warren HS) was :44 seconds behind, but still finished in second place with a time of 31:54.87, which is the fifth fastest time in school history, while sophomore Mustafa Kahssay (Western HS) earned a third place finish with a clocking of 32:33.38. Rounding out the top four was freshman Elvis Salinas (Norwalk HS), who posted a time of 32:39.05.

Also garnering the team points was sophomore Brandon Taylor (Mayfair HS), who captured the 3000-meter steeplechase by edging Gonzalo Ceja of East Los Angeles College by two seconds, as Taylor crossed the finish line in 9:41.10. Sophomore Joe Magana (Cantwell HS) placed fourth in 9:50.90, while freshman Jonathan Villa (Long Beach Poly HS) finished in sixth place at 9:58.10.

Freshman Ricky Carrigan, Jr. (Cabrillo HS), who had not competed all season, stepped in and won the conference championship in the triple jump with a leap of 14.44 meters. Sophomore Dionbrea Norris (Long Beach Millikan HS) finished in fourth place with a distance of 13.92 meters.

In throwing events, freshman Joe Leonard (El Rancho HS) came in first place in the hammer with a toss of 45.98, with freshman Kimson Do (Kennedy HS, Guam) taking fifth place at 35.15 meters. Freshman Adam Aguirre (Cantwell HS) recorded the fifth best javelin throw in school history at 55.66 meters, which earned him a second place finish, while freshman Jake Ostgaard (La Mirada HS) place fourth at 50.17 meters.

The following have qualified for the SCC Championships:

100 Meters - Craig Jones
200 Meters -  Elisha Toler
400 Meters - Elisha Toler
800 Meters - DeShaunte Lewis, Jonathan Bazinet, Adam Vega, Thomas Poston, George Robinson, Jesus Morales
1500 Meters - Jonathan Bazinet, DeShaunte Lewis, Adam Vega, Thomas Poston, Paul Mora, David Pleitez
Long Jump - Dionbrea Norris
Shot Put - Joe Leonard, Bobby Villegas, Miguel Villacana
Discus - Joe Leonard, Bobby Villegas

Photo courtesy of El Camino College