Riverside Leads After OEC Prelims
Riverside City College has a strong lead after the first day of the Orange Empire Conference Friday.
The Tigers sit in first place with 132.50 points, while Orange Coast College follows with 85.50 points and host Saddleback College sits in third with 16 points.
Citlaly Ruiz led three Tigers in the 3K steeplechase, taking first in 12:23.67. Audianna Salgado followed in second in 14:16.61, while Savanna Martin took third in 14:50.08.
Nadia Munoz won the 10K OEC Championship with a time of 39:22.51, while Celeste Mendoza grabbed fourth place (41:43.26) and Ruiz took fifth in 42:00.48.
Joace Warrior claimed the long jump championship with a jump of 5.41 meters on her third attempt, while Catalina Teran followed in second with a 5.33 meter jump on her first try.
Victoria Redd led a bunch of Tigers on the shot put podium, winning the championship with a toss of 11.78 meters. She got the mark on her final attempt, bettering her fifth try by 0.07 meters. Nyah Brown took third (11.13 meters), while Skylar Svidergol and Nyeta Urquides rounded out the top five with respective throws of 11.02 and 10.60 meters.
Kierstin Marpaung won the high jump championship and was the only competitor to clear 1.50 meters, doing so on her first try. Beau Hocking took third at 1.40 meters, while Joace Warrior finished in fifth, also at 1.40 meters.
Esra Mor finished runner-up in the discus with a toss of 40.71 meters, followed by Redd in third (39.47 meters) and Svidergol in fourth (35.05 meters). Brown also got on the podium in sixth place with a throw of 31.43 meters on her first attempt.
Four Tigers earned their spots in the 100-meter hurdles championship race next week. Marpaung and Warrior won their prelim heats in 15.84 and 16.96 seconds, respectively. Taleyah Graves (17.78 seconds) and Elizabeth Hammond (18.97 seconds) will also compete in the championship.
Teran led six RCC sprinters in the 100-meter dash, winning her heat in 12.35 seconds. Kiarah Rivers won her prelim heat in 12.52 seconds, while Hocking (12.94 seconds), Sarah Hernandez (12.97 seconds), Warrior (13.31 seconds) and Mariah Thomas (13.57 seconds) will also compete for the OEC title.
Teran also earned her spot in the 200-meter final, crossing the finish line in 25.10 seconds in the prelims. Kiarah Rivers (25.82 seconds), Kyndall Hayes (26.72 seconds), Kayla Sykes (26.80 seconds), Hocking (27.21 seconds) and Hernandez (27.32 seconds) make it an RCC-heavy finale with six Tigers in the mix.
Five Tigers will compete in the 400-meter championship: Janel Lugo-Bourbonnias (58.25 seconds), Hayes (1:00.19), Sykes (1:00.35), Lauren Hughes (1:02.26), and Patricia Hernendez (1:04.48).
The Tigers look to hold onto their lead and win their 13th consecutive OEC Championship next week.