By Pristine Tompkin
The Riverside City College men’s and women’s track and field teams finished the season strong with second place finishes at the state championship meet on May 20-21 at San Diego Mesa College.
The women finished second behind Cerritos 92-80, while the men finished second behind Mt. SAC, 148-99.
The women scored in 11 out of 21 events, while the men scored in 10 events.
Destinee Widgins won the women’s triple jump at 12.18 meters.
“My whole mindset this season was to win state,” she said.
Sophomore Crystal Tejada won the 800 meter run with a time of 2:10.59.
Tejada said she knew she had to give it all she had in order to win.
“It’s what I’ve been wanting for so long,” she said. “This is my last meet here so I just had to go for it.”
While teammate Brianna Jacklin finished second in the 10,000 meter and fourth in the 5,000.
Freshman Madison McPeak contributed to the team with a second place finish in the pole vault with a height of 3.47 meters.
In the 100 meter run, Tiarah McDaniel placed fifth with a time of 11.96, while Kayla Wilson placed seventh with a time of 11.99. Wilson also received fifth place in the 200 meters with a time of 24.91.
For the men, freshman Joshua Silva won the 1500 meter run with a time of 3:55.65.
Silva said he felt confident about winning the 1,500 meters in the last stretch of the race.
“I knew I had it at the 200 (mark),” he said. “I felt strong.”
Freshman Michael Simpson finished second in the steeplechase with a time of 9:19.83.
Simpson said having a positive attitude and outlook when doing an event like the steeplechase.
“What’s it take to be a good steeplechaser,” he rhetorically asked. “Mostly believe in yourself more than you probably ever should have.”
James Jones came in first place in the shot put, with a distance of 16.96 meters. While Chad Ponciano placed second in the decathlon with a total score of 6,360 points and his teammate sophomore Cole Hicks not far behind him with a score of 6,357 points.
In addition, freshman Ryan Muir finished second in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.45.
Men’s head coach Jim McCarron was very satisfied with how they performed at the state meet.
“I thought that the guys overachieved this season,” McCarron said. “I am very proud of our guys, coaches, staff and administration for all their hard work.”
