Chabot College – Hayward

American River Men win 4^th NorCal title in 5 years in record setting fashion.

The American River men reclaimed the NorCal title they lost last year to College of Sequoias in dominant fashion scoring a NorCal record 180.5 points and advancing a school record 24 athletes to the California State Championships in San Diego next weekend. The Beavers had multiple events where they will be sending more than one athlete on to compete at the final meet of the year. Four Beavers qualified in the 10,000m (Abdul Hamid, Ozzie Hassen, Brad Needles, and Joe Shanahan – Donnie Plazola qualified but dropped it to concentrate on the steeplechase and 5000m), four in the 1500m (Conor Wells – champion in 3:55, Dejon Joseph, Gonzo Morales-Lomeli, and Anthony Sanchez – Ross Walker also qualified but dropped it), and four in the Long Jump (Austin Collier, James Dudley, Gabe Ferges, Lenny Nelson). Two athletes will be representing the Beavers in the Steeplechase (Donnie Plazola and Matt Morris), 5,000m (Abdul Hamid and Donnie Plazola), and Pole Vault (Cambron Lyles and Najee Benafghoul). Also qualifying for State will be Treshon Woods in the 400m Hurdles who set a school record dating back to 1981 clocking a state leading 52.11, Richard Finical in the 400m (47.89), Steven Hill in the 800m (1:52.69). The 4x100m relay ran a season best 41.41 and qualified 4^th into state while the 4x400m relay ran 3:14.63 and qualified 2^nd. Austin Collier also qualified in the Triple Jump taking 3^rd and hitting the state qualifying mark on his 3^rd and final attempt in the trials portion of the meet. The final qualifier was Hammer Thrower Nathan Swisley who hit the state "A" mark on his 2^nd throw and ended up grabbing the last qualifying spot and a free plane ticket to San Diego. The Beavers, a team built to compete well at the NorCals, will have their work cut out at the state championships where they are ranked 5^th in the State behind MtSAC, Sequoias, Riverside, and Modesto.

See the full meet results at directathletics.com .