Pirates capture top prize at Orange Coast Classic

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's track team took on some of the top teams in Southern California and did more than hold its own, finishing first overall at the 2023 Orange Coast Classic on Friday afternoon.

Coast topped the eight-college event with a winning team total of 179 points, followed by Saddleback (134), Cerritos (117), Santa Barbara (73) and Santa Monica (61).

In all, Coast won five different events on the men's side, including a pair of strong runs by the Pirate relay teams. In the 4x100, the foursome of Ashton Fegel, Anthony Gibbs, Luke O'Brien and Felix Fontaneaus topped the field with a winning time of 43.53 seconds. In the 4x400 relay, Fegal and Fontaneaus joined Jeff Hass and Max Knudson) and crossed the finish line first with a winning time of 3:21.04.

It was a 1-3 finish for the Pirate distance runners in the 3,000-meter run, with Hector Espana edging out Santa Monica's Jose Sevilla at the line for first place with a time of 9:06.15, while OCC teammate Brian Soriano-Guzman was a close third with a time of 9:14.98.

OCC picked up a pair of first-place performances in the field events as well. In the shot put, Adrian Moreno toppled the field with a winning throw of 45-feet, 1 1/4 inches. He also placed second overall in the hammer throw with a mark of 148-4.

One of the top javelin throwers in the region resides at OCC as Pirate standout Joshua Mejorada dominated the event with a throw of 160-6, a mark that was over seven feet better than the rest of the field. Saddleback's Daniel May was a distant second with a mark of 153-5.

Other top-three performances for the Pirates included Viencent Luong-Kha in the 1,500 (2nd, 4:08.94), Ryan Welton in the 1,500 (3rd, 4:10.07), Brandon Kershaw in the 800 (2nd, 1:59.19), Cayden Loth in the long jump (3rd, 21-2) and Joey Horton in the discus throw (3rd, 126-8). 

Complete results from the Orange Coast Classic can be found HERE. 

The Pirates will return to action at the Cal State University, San Marcos Invitation on Friday, beginning at 10 a.m.