Several Pirates qualify for SoCal Regionals
FULLERTON -- More than a dozen different members of the Orange Coast College men's track and field team qualified for the upcoming Southern California Regional Meet following their performances at last weekend's Orange Empire Conference Meet, held at Fullerton College.
With the majority of the events still in preliminary mode, there were still some finals to be had and in the end, several Pirate athletes earned a top-six spot to qualify.
It was a sea of orange and blue crossing the finish line during the 10,000 meters as four OCC runners cracked the top-six, including the event winner Brandon Ferguson, who topped the field with a time of 32 minutes, 48.29 seconds.
In fact, it was a 1-2-3-6 finish for the Pirates. Following close behind Ferguson was the trio of Luis Morales (2nd, 32:52.02), Lucio Ramirez (3rd, 32:52.05) and Jesus Valdez (6th, 33.:26.59).
The distance events proved well for the Pirates as three more runners qualified for SoCals in the 3,000 steeplechase. Connor Garcia finished second with a time of 10:04.15, Christopher Harlan took third with a 10:25.79 and Jorge Jeronimo placed fourth with a 10:29.62.
It was another 2-3-4 finish for the Pirates in the pole vault, with qualifying marks set by Jason McKinnon (14 feet, 1 1/4 inches), Andrew Taylor (14-1 1/4) and Kyle Victoria (13-7 1/4).
Another OEC champ was crowned for the Pirates as Winston Lawson topped the field in the long jump with a distance of 22-9. Teammate Ryan Collier qualified fourth with a mark of 21-11 1/2 and Wyatt Dobrick notched the sixth spot with a 21-5 1/4.
Last but not least, in the hammer throw, Brawley Osborne notched the fourth qualifying spot with a throw of 158-11.
The Southern California Meet will take place at Riverside City College on May 9-10. The finals of the remaining events of the OEC Meet will take place on Friday at Fullerton College, beginning at 10 a.m.
