Pirates men finish sixth at State Meet!
WALNUT -- With several top-five performances, the Orange Coast College men's track and field team earned a sixth-place team finish at last weekend California Community College Athletic Association State Meet, held at Mt. San Antonio College.
Coast finished the two-day event with 36 points, tying Merritt College for sixth place. Riverside City College (111 points) defended its state crown, followed by American River (83), Cerritos (64), Mt. SAC (62) and College of the Sequoias (52).
Leading the way for the Pirates was miler Luis Morales, who nearly pulled out a state championship in the 1,500 meters, but finished second overall with a time of 3 minutes, 57.8 seconds. The freshman standout carried a slight lead through the first three laps, but in the end, Cerritos' Jonathan Bazinet found the right speed and won with a time of 3:56.39.
Later that day, Morales, along with teammates Brandon Ferguson and Lucio Ramirez took part in the 5,000 and it was a 3-4-5 finish for the Pirates. Morales crossed the finish line in third with a time of 14:48.69, followed by Ferguson (14:49.65) and Ramirez (14:55.66).
The day before, Ramirez braved the heat and competed in the 10,000, where he finished fifth overall with a time of 32:24.85.
Sophomore standout Winston Lawson wrapped up a strong 2014 with a fourth-place performance in the decathlon, finishing with 6,714 points, behind only Thomas Cheval of Cerritos (7,175), Miles Poullard of Mt. SAC (7,024) and Phillip Bailey of Riverside (6,873).
Individually, Lawson also competed in the high jump and finished seventh overall with a jump of 6-feet, 5 1/2 inches.
