Track and Field Finishes Strong at Last Chance Meet

COSTA MESA, Calif. --- El Camino College participated in the Orange Coast College Last Chance Meet on Friday and performed well in the last meet before the South Coast Conference Championships.

The women's team finished as the top community college finisher and second overall behind Vanguard. The Warriors posted 92 points, four better than the host Pirates.

On the men's side, the Warriors finished third overall with 82.5 points with the Pirates taking the top spot with 198.5 and Long Beach City coming in second with 135.5.

For the women, Alyssa Matsuzaki led the way for the Warriors as she scored victories in two events along with a runner-up finish. She took first place in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.61 and also won the high jump with a mark of 4 feet, 5 inches. Matsuzaki also finished second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:07.21. She also posted a solid finish in the long jump, placing fourth with a mark of 16 feet, 1.75 inches and ran a leg in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

Sequoia Gonzales also took first place in the 3,000m with a time of 10:38.13 which now ranks fourth in the state.

Other highlights for the women included:

• 4x400m relay team (Matsuzaki, Rania Gomaa, Kaile Reavis, Jailah Robinson) finished second (4:07.70)
• Gomaa finished second in 3,000m (10:48.84; 8th in the state)
• Alexis Pitts finished second in 100m (12.84)
• Robinson finished second in the high jump (4 feet, 5 inches).

On the men's side, the Warriors were led by James Neely's victory in the 800m with a time of 1:56.97. It was the only win for the Warriors on the day but they had other solid outings:

• Isaiah Silva: 2nd in the javelin (152 feet, 2 inches)
• Lotanno Muonagor: 3rd in the high jump (5 feet, 11 inches)
• Anthony Brooks: 3rd in the long jump (21 feet, 7 ½ inches)
• 4x400m relay team of Yuto Tamada, Jaylen Allen, Xerxes Reamer, Neely: 3rd (3:25.01).
• Stephen Hansen: 4th in 3,000m (9:34.83)
• Michael Ihemeje: 4th in long jump (21 feet, 2 ¾ inches)
• Tamada: 5th in the 200m (23.28)
• Nathan Albers: 5th in the shot put (37 feet, 9 ¼ inches)
• Reamer: 5th in 400m (51.68).

The Warriors will now take a week off before heading to the SCC Championships hosted by Cerritos College beginning with the prelims on Tuesday, April 25. The finals are scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 29.