By John M. Sherrard
(Norwalk, CA) In the final local tune-up prior to the 59th Annual Mt. SAC Relays, the Mountie Men's and Women's Track and Field team excelled in the distance races in the Cerritos College Invitational Friday afternoon.
Highlighting the afternoon with a first-place finish in the grueling 5,000 Meter Run, freshman Manuel Fernandez won by seven seconds over his nearest competitor with a time of 15:22.57.
The women were led by Crystal Jardines with a close second in the 1,500 Meter Run. The freshman finished just three seconds behind the winner.
Another top finishers for the men was a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase. The first-place winner was freshman Adam Preston with a time of 9:53.89, followed six seconds later by sophomore Francisco Guerreo.
The 1,500 Meter saw freshman Hunter Filenic (3:57.91) finish just over a second behind the winner.
Nearly the same went for the women in the distance races as the 3,000 Meters was a 2-3-4 finish with freshman Karla Espindola-Vasquez (12:17.51), 2nd, freshman Hannah Batchelor, 3rd and sophomore Melanie Deciga, 4th.
In the 5,000 Meters a pair of freshmen, Sophy Tsabadze and Ilse Cacho-Perez finished 3-4 for the women.
In the field events Kyle Beck tied for first with a vault of 5.10 meters. The freshman didn't miss any one of his three vaults, which began at 4.80 meters.
In the women's vault, freshmen Andrea Yniguez and Brianna Aguirre finished in a tie for second with a vault of 3.20 meters.
Sophomore Anibal Lopez-Isiordia placed second in the Discus Throw, while sophomore Aaron Guerra and sophomore Godwin Nwoye tied for 5th in the High Jump.