RCC Has Solid First Day at OEC Championship

After the first day of the Orange Empire Conference Championship Meet, Riverside City College sits in first place with 157 points after six events were scored Friday. While some events were prelims for next week's finale, some events did result in championships on Friday.

The Tigers swept the top four spots in the 3K steeplechase, with Ernesto Ruiz winning the championship in 9:18.02 for the second straight year. Kailil O'Brien followed in second with a time of 9:47.57, while Daniel Nava (10:01.08) and Edward Garcia (10:17.51) took third and fourth, respectively.

Ruiz capped the day with another championship, winning the 10K in 31:24.31. Nicandro Rosas grabbed a top-four finish, clocking in at 33:37.54 for fourth place.

Riverside swept the hammer throw, with the Tigers taking the top four spots. Edward Ta'amilo won the event with a throw of 53.98 meters (177-1), while Christian Burroughs took second at 51.88 meters (170-2). Isaiah Butler took third with a mark of 46.98 meters (154-1) and Adam Torres grabbed fourth after posting a throw of 46.06 meters (151-1).

Ta'amilo followed it up with the top spot in the shot put, posting a throw of 16.57 meters (54-4.5). Burroughs followed in second with a mark of 15.83 meters (51-11.25) and Justice Brown took third at 15.44 meters (50-8).

Quinten Flowers capped the field events with a winning long jump of 6.71 meters (22-0.25). Marcellus Linton took second with a jump of 6.69 meters (21-11.5), while Xavier Harvey posted a mark of 6.41 meters (21-0.5) to take fourth and Jason Allen finished fifth at 6.39 meters (20-9.75).

Xavier Rideout finished third in the javelin with a mark of 44.35 meters (145-6), while Jacob Rahner also grabbed a top-five placement with the fifth-best throw of the day (43.42 meters, 142-5).

Anthony Ruiz (4:06.99) and Jack Slavin (4:11.53) each won their heats of the 1500-meter prelims to advance to next week's finals, while Luke Catherwood (4:12.95), Edgar Ortega (4:14.28), and Logan Hanchette (4:15.87) also qualified for the championship race.

Ruiz (1:59.79), Slavin (2:02.23), Catherwood (2:00.17) and Enzo Cayetano (2:02.36) also secured their spots in the 800-meter championship next week.

Elijah Davis (49.79 seconds) and Mekhi Gilmore (50.28 seconds) each won their heats of the 400-meter prelims to automatically advance to the final next week, while Jason Deal (50.40 seconds) also qualified.

Three Tigers secured their spot in the 100-meter dash final next week: Linton (10.74 seconds), Jacob Petrick (10.97 seconds), and Kye Fowlkes (10.94 seconds).

Rowan Hudson (56.59 seconds) and Levi Vela (57.41 seconds) won their 400-meter hurdles heats, while Byron Pruitt (57.45 seconds), Tschaikowsky Brown (59.14 seconds), and Bryce Jackson (1:00.05) earned a spot in the championship race.

In the 200-meter dash, Linton and Elijah Davis each won their heat with respective times of 21.81 and 22.08 seconds. Fowlkes and Jacob Petrick will join their teammates in the championship race next week after posting times of 22.07 and 22.222 seconds, respectively.