White's double win leads Pirate men to Coast Classic win
COSTA MESA -- His two performances lasted a combined 33 seconds, but for sprinter Kyle White, his strong times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes helped propel the Orange Coast College men's track and field team to a solid win at the 2015 Coast Classic Invitational on Friday.
White, a standout running back on OCC's football team in the fall, showed off his speed against some top track programs in the area as the Pirates claimed the team title with 205 points. Cerritos finished second with a score of 194, while Santa Monica City College (88 points) took third.
In the 100, White came out of the blocks strong and blazed the trail to the finish line with a winning time of 10.95 seconds. Cerritos' Clifford Scott took second with a time of 11.05, while SMCC's Edward Lampley (11.2) took third.
In the 200, it was a sea of orange and blue at the top of the standings as White led a 1-2-3-4 finish for the Pirates with a winning time of 22.21. OCC teammates Gregory Warner (22.55), Terrance Chester (22.67) and Justin Gibbons (22.85) completed the Coast grand slam atop the standings, before Cerritos' Justin Reid broke the Pirates barrage by finishing fifth with a 22.93.
That same OCC foursome of White, Warner, Chester and Gibbons again led the way for Coast in the 4x100 relay as the Pirates edged out Cerritos with a winning time of 42.23, just ahead of the Falcons' foursome time of 42.32.
Multiple top performances were a theme for the Pirates on Friday as two other events concluded with 1-2 scores for OCC. In the 5,000, sophomores Lucio Ramirez and Brandon Ferguson claimed the top-two spots. Ramirez was the lone performer under 16 minutes after crossing the finish line with a time of 15:48.17. Ferguson also turned in a solid time and placed second with a 16:19.48.
In the javelin, it was another 1-2 finish for Coast as Tommy Duong claimed the top spot with a distance of 152-feet, 8-inches, while teammate Jason McKinnon took second with a throw of 143-0.
Coast took home first place in four other events as Eamon Smythe won the 800 with a time of 1:55.29, Jesus Valdez claimed the top spot in the 3,000 steeplechase (10:28.76), Bryson Crawford won the long jump (22-1) and Tyler Courtney picked up the win in the discus (131-3).
Coast will take part in the Southern California Multi-Event Championships at San Diego Mesa College on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to the Mt. SAC Invitational on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Mt. San Antonio College.
