Bakersfield, Calif. – The Mt. SAC Men's Track and Field Team is off to a great start at the 3C2A SoCal Regional Trials at Bakersfield College, racking up 29 points to lead the field early. Cerritos sits in second with 19, while El Camino rounds out the top three with 8. But the Mounties have set the tone and made it clear – they're the ones to beat.
The Mounties came into the weekend with a head start thanks to their performance at the SoCal Regional Multi Championships back in early April. Taiyo Ishiguro's first-place finish added 10 key points, while Jaden Williams (6 points) and Kase Schaffeld (3 points) helped build a solid foundation before trials even began.
Marques Guzman turned in an impressive double performance in the sprints, taking second in the 100m (10.41) and claiming gold in the 200m (20.93), establishing himself as a major factor moving forward.
In the middle distance, Dillon Hightower delivered a steady 1500m finish in 4:03.48, while distance standout Diego Varela powered his way to a second-place finish in the 10,000m (32:07.54).
The steeplechase duo of Luis Soto and Conner Sybrandy added depth with strong finishes, and the 4X400 relay team – Dylan Ochoa, Guzman, Johnny Gardner IV and Rashad Martin – closed things out on the track with a second-place time of 3:16.29.
The Mounties were just as strong in the field events.
In shot put, Toni Babatunde, Duke Hemsley and Andres Lambarena stacked the leaderboard with second, third and fourth-place finishes. Schaffeld added another strong mark in the discus (148' 8"), placing fourth.
Ishiguro continues to lead the field in javelin with a thorw of 183' 3", while Ja'Len Taylor rose to the occasion in the high jump, tying for first at 6' 2.75".
Caleb Garcia soared to a second-place finish in the pole vault (13' 9.25") and Tyrus Murguia leapt to fourth place in the long jump (23' 1.75") followed by Myles Massie in fifth place (23' 1.25"). Massie wasn't done either, delivering again with a first place finish in the triple jump (51' 0").
In the hammer, Grant Grunwald grabbed second place with a throw of 160' 9" and Duke Hemsley finished fourth at 155' 6".
NEXT UP:
The Mounties who qualified for the SoCal Regional Finals will head back to Bakersfield College on Saturday, May 9. Last year, the men finished second. Can they hold onto their lead? Stay tuned. Good luck, Mounties!
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