By Nick Peralta

Riverside City College men’s track and field earned top marks and qualified numerous athletes after hosting the California Community College Athletic Association Southern Regional preliminaries May 4.

The Tigers sit in first place after all events were scored final with 31 points, nearly resulting in a clean sweep for the team at the podiums.

RCC performed well in the throwing events highlighted by sophomore Marcos Gonzalez’s first place finish in the javelin toss with a 182 foot throw.

Freshman Patrick Maria followed with a second place finish with a 173 foot throw.

Sophomore Alec Jones placed third overall in the shot put toss with 49 feet.

RCC also excelled in the racing competitions.

Freshman Garret Smith mirrored his second place finish in the 3,000 meter race walk finishing with a time of 22 minutes, 10.06 seconds.

Freshman Mohamed Mohammed placed first in the 800 meter with a final time of 1:55.85, while sophomore Enrique Villa placed second overall in the 1,500 meter.

Sophomore Dillon Lay crossed the finish line in third place in the 400 meter hurdles at 55.07.

The Tigers advance to the CCCAA State Finals next which will take place at Modesto Junior College on May 10.