Mt. SAC, Cerritos and Long Beach track and field teams sweep the competition in South Coast Conference Championships

By Joseph Ramirez • April 29, 2024

Anthony Taylor, center, gets over a hurdle during the men’s 110-meter hurdles during the South Coast Conference Prelims at Murdock Stadium on Tuesday, April 23. Taylor won his heat out of lane five in 14.35 seconds, the top qualifying time heading into SCC Finals, which will take place on Saturday, April 27 at Murdock Stadium. (Greg Fontanilla | The Union)

After all-day track and field preliminaries, Mount SAC, Cerritos and Long Beach teams dominated the day at the South Coast Conference Prelims on April 23 at El Camino College.

Different colleges participated in the competition including Long Beach City College, East Los Angeles College, Pasadena City College and Cerritos College. Twenty-one events were held simultaneously including running, throwing and many more.

Mount SAC scored 123 points overall to win 1st place while the Cerritos women’s team took home first place with 69 points. Both the Long Beach men’s and women’s teams finished 3rd. El Camino men’s team finished 5th while the women’s team placed 4th.

Izak Giacchetto, center, sprints down the track during the men's 100-meter dash at South Coast Conference Prelims on Tuesday, April 23 at Murdock Stadium. Giacchetto clocked in at 11.24 seconds in heat one, out of lane six. (Greg Fontanilla | The Union) — Izak Giacchetto, center, sprints down the track during the men’s 100-meter dash at South Coast Conference Prelims on Tuesday, April 23 at Murdock Stadium. Giacchetto clocked in at 11.24 seconds in heat one, out of lane six. (Greg Fontanilla | The Union)

The events started with hammer-throwing for men and women.

The 1st-place winner for women’s hammer throwing was Dimitra Vitogiannis from Cerritos. Vitogiannis was able to throw the hammer as far as 45.12 meters. Mt. SAC took first place for men’s hammer throwing when Mountie Jesus Isiordia threw the hammer 47.18 meters out.

The majority of the day consisted of the track events including hurdles and sprints. Runners who scored in the top 3 included Jordan Crowdus, 20, from Cerritos College. Crowdus took home 2nd place in the men’s 400-meter dash, finishing with a time of 48.67 seconds.

Aaron Cohen, center, keeping up with the pack during the second heat of the men's 1,500-meter run at South Coast Conference Prelims at Murdock Stadium on Tuesday, April 23. Cohen ran the 1,500-meter in 4 minutes and 19 minutes, good enough to advance to SCC Finals, which will take place on Saturday, April 27 at El Camino College. (Greg Fontanilla | The Union) — Aaron Cohen, center, keeps up with the pack during the second heat of the men’s 1,500-meter run at South Coast Conference Prelims at Murdock Stadium on Tuesday, April 23. Cohen ran the 1,500 in 4 minutes and 19 minutes to advance to the SCC Finals which took place Saturday, April 27 at El Camino College. (Greg Fontanilla | The Union)

“I feel that I have been running very well and so has the rest of my team but I want to be less tense when I am competing,” Crowdus said.

Another top runner in the 400-meter dash was Josh Morinaga, 21, from Mt. SAC. He finished 3rd in the 400 with a time of 49.06 seconds.

“I eased into the preliminaries today and did not want to overdo it today at the same time we are trying our best,” Morinaga said.

The Warriors were able to win first place in two events. Anthony Taylor finished 1st in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.51 seconds. For women’s track and field, Sequoia Gonzales finished 1st in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 36:58:40.

Yuto Tamada attempts to run down Jordan Crowdus, right, of Cerritos College during the second heat of the men's 400-meter dash at Murdock Stadium on Tuesday, April 23. Tamada took second place in his heat, running 48.73 seconds, and will advance to South Coast Conference Finals on Satuday, April 23 at Murdock Stadium. (Greg Fontanilla | The Union) — Yuto Tamada attempts to run down Jordan Crowdus, right, of Cerritos College during the second heat of the men’s 400-meter dash at Murdock Stadium on Tuesday, April 23. Tamada took second place in his heat, running 48.73 seconds, and advanced to the South Coast Conference Finals on Saturday, April 27 at Murdock Stadium. (Greg Fontanilla | The Union)

Yuto Tamada, 20, who placed 5th in the men’s 400-meter dash, spoke after his runs and reflected on his performance.

“I want to work to get faster and be ready for the next competition [coming up],” Tamada said. “The Mt. SAC runners were fast and kept getting faster and faster, I want to catch up to them.”

The SCC Conference finals concluded on April 27 which had Mt. SAC, Cerritos and Long Beach finishing in the same spots in the top 3 for women’s and men’s.

Final Team Scores

Men’s

1 – Mt. SAC – 498.66 points

2 – Cerritos – 100.50 points

3 – Long Beach – 84.33 points

Women’s

1 – Mt. SAC – 319 points

2 – Cerritos – 242.50 points

3 – Long Beach – 112 points

The Warriors finished one behind in both men’s and women’s, placing 4th overall. The men finished with 81.50 points while the women earned 71.