Modesto Junior College

American River Men Win 6^th Straight Conference Crown

The American River College men's track & field team won their 6^th consecutive Big 8 Conference championship on Thursday and are now in pursuit of getting back the NorCal crown they lost last year, after a 4-year run at #1 in the North. The Beavers scored 297 points easily outdistancing runner-up Modesto who scored 200.5. The wind played a big factor for everyone as it played havoc all day long.

Austin Collier of ARC won the MVP for the men's field events after winning the Long Jump (24' 0.75"), Javelin (165') and High Jump (6'-1.5"). He also placed 2nd in the Triple Jump (44' 3.25"). Donnie Plazola won the both the 10,000m (34:17.94) by running just fast enough to make the NorCal qualifying time and then came back and won the 5000m in 15:10.85. Ozzie hassen of ARC was 2^nd in the 10k in 34:20. Conor Wells won the 1500m in 4:02.60 then doubled back to take 3^rd in the 800m in 1:55.57 to help the Beavers sweep the top 3 spots in the 800m (Steven Hill won in 1:54.08 – Stephen Gibson 2^nd in 1:55.37). In the 1500m the Beavers took 5 of the top 6 places.

The men's team also swept the 400m with Richard Finical winning in 48.49, Martino Falls 2^nd in 49.41 and D'Mitre Jones 3^rd in 49.68. Richard was also 2^nd in the 200m in 21.83. Treshon Woods won the 400m Hurdles by over 3 seconds in 54.86. Casey Aguirre won the steeplechase in 10:05.67 as the Beaver took 3 of the top 4 places – Matt Morris 3^rd and Joe Shanahan 4^th.

The 4^th ranked conference 4x100m relay placed 2^nd in a time of 41.87, while the 4x400 pulled of a big come from behind win in the 4x400m. Watch the race on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAlf3fhT3n4

ARC had a 3 place sweep in the Long Jump – Collier 1^st, Alex Skondras 2^nd, and Lenny Nelson 3^rd.

Full Results https://www.directathletics.com/results/track/45465_m.html#2833135