Pirates earn several State Meet performances
MISSION VIEJO -- The Orange Coast College men's track and field team earned a pair of top-5 performances at the 2024 3C2A Track and Field State Championships on Saturday at Saddleback College.
Leading the way for the Pirates was a fourth-place finish in the 10,000-meter run for freshman distance standout Jimmy Dominguez, who took on the best the state had to offer and finished with a time of 31 minutes, 11.62 seconds, just 23 seconds off of the bronze-medal time of 30:48.02, set by Chabot's Kyle Galinis and 48 seconds off of the gold-medal time of 30:23 from Riverside's Ernesto Ruiz. Dominguez also earned a State Meet spot in the 5,000 meters and finished seventh in the state with a time of 14:54.42.
Another top-five mark came in the hammer throw, where sophomore Tad Desembrana capped off his OCC career with fifth-place throw of 164-4. "My best throw of the meet was the third attempt and in the moment, it felt great to feel the hammer launch and watch it pass the 50-yard-line," Desembrana said. "All I could think was that I wanted it to go farther and farther. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to have competed in the State Meet and share the podium with such great athletes. This was the best I've had yet and I think I've improved this year at least 10-times more than last year. I've happy with the progress I've made as an athlete at OCC and I'm hoping to move on and to keep throwing at a four-year college next year."
In the high jump, Caeden Connell cleared 6-4 3/4 for a ninth-place finish, javelin thrower Brendan Clark placed 10th with a mark of 161-5 and shot put thrower, Joey Horton, placed 12th in the state with a 42-1 1/4.
Photos from the 2024 State Meet, courtesy of Luke Lastra, can be found HERE.
