By Tadzio Garcia
East Los Angeles College men’s track and field team placed fourth in the South Coast Conference finals April 25 at Long Beach City College.
The women’s team finished fifth, 12 points ahead of rival Los Angeles Trade Tech College.
ELAC outscored El Camino College Compton Center by 23 points and host Long Beach by 27. The women’s team had last outscored all three colleges in the SCC finals in 2002.
The Huskies advanced 10 athletes to the SoCal Preliminary Finals on May 1-3 at Riverside City College. Gonzalo Ceja won 5,000-meter run with a kick that began 200 meters from the finish line.
“Coaches (Louis) Ramirez and (David) Loera said I have the best kick on the field and told me to save it until the final turn. It worked and I won,” Ceja said.
With the crowd screaming, ELAC stunned Pasadena City College in the men’s 4×400 relay winning fourth place to qualify the SoCal prelims.
All-American Laura Aceves qualified for SoCal in five events.
Final 2014 SCC Men’s Track and Field Standings
1. Mt. San Antonio College, 306.5 points
2. Cerritos College (240)
3. El Camino College (119.5)
4. East Los Angeles College (55)
5. LA Trade Tech College (11)
6. El Camino College Compton Center (1)
Final 2014 SCC Women’s Track and Field Standings
1. Cerritos (285)
2. Mt. SAC (253)
3. El Camino (111)
4. Pasadena City College (48)
5. ELAC (30)
6. LA Trade Tech College (18)
7. Compton (7)
8. Long Beach City College (3)
Final results from the SCC finals on April 25
800-meter run
Aceves* third place
1,500-meter run
Daniel Zaragoza* (7), Adrian Gaytan (10), Aceves* (2)
5,000 run
Ceja* (1), Zaragoza* (6), Kris Chacon (11), Aceves* (2)
110-meter hurdles
Jorge Romo** (7), Luis Hernandez*** (9)
400-meter hurdles
Romo* (5), Hernandez** (9)
4×400 hurdles
ELAC “A” team* of Hernandez, Cristian Flores, Gaytan, Romo (4)
Steeplechase
Flores** (10) , Viridiana Hernandez** (7)
Long jump
Romo* (5)
Discus
Adriann Crespo** (8)
Hammer
Robert Villafan** (9), Crespo* (4)
Decathlon
Romo (9)
*SoCal prelims qualifier
**SoCal prelims alternate
***Personal record
