Gruber's silver medal caps strong track performance for Pirates
WALNUT -- Several members of the Orange Coast College men's and women's track and field teams reached the finish line of the 2022 season by competing at this year's California Community College Athletic Association Track and Field State Championships last weekend at Mt. San Antonio College.
Leading the way for the Pirates was the stellar performance of high jumper Nicolette Gruber, who earned a silver medal and a state runner-up finish with a jump of 5-feet, 3-inches. After clearing 4-11, 5-1 and 5-3 on successful first attempts, she gave it a great effort to clear 5-5, but came up just short. Ventura's Charlotte Allison won the gold by clearing 5-5 after an early struggle at 5-1, where she needed her third attempt to clear the bar. Gruber tied Mt. SAC's Aaliyah Mendoza at 5-3, but the Mountie jumper needed two attempts to clear 5-1 so she earned the bronze medal.
The men's 4x400 relay team of Felix Fontaeus, Nicolas Felix, Maximus Knudson and Ryan Rivituso earned a top-five finish against the state's best with a fifth-place time of 3:17.15, edging out De Anza (3:17.33), San Mateo (3:17.5) and Modesto (3:17.56).
In the men's 400, Rivituso earned a sixth-place state finish with a time of 49.13, while on the women's side, McKay Arvidson wrapped up a stellar freshman season with an eighth-place time of 18:51.65 in the 5,000.
Other top-10 performances for the Pirates included Kailey Frye in the women's pole vault (9th, 10-4), Paul Domingue in the men's triple jump (9th, 45-9 3/4), Joshua Mejorada in the men's javelin (9th, 163-9), and Tyler Young in the men's decathlon (10th, 5,161 points). Men's shot putter Adrian Moreno finished 12th in the state with a mark of 38-1 1/2.
Complete results of the CCCAA State Meet can be found HERE.
