Men's Track & Field split their squad last week, with most of the team competing at local rival Allan Hancock's Henry Kirk Invitational on Friday and the Harriers hitting the road for the Oxy Distance Carnival at Occidental College in Los Angeles on Saturday. In Santa Maria, the men's team claimed 2nd place behind leader Hartnell, while the women took 3rd, despite losing their talented distance team to their LA contingent.
In Santa Maria, the men won four events, including two Cuesta All Time Top 10 marks by Leaper William Dawes. Dawes's victories in the Long Jump (23-4) and Triple Jump (44-9.75) moved him to 3rd and 5th places, respectively, on Cuesta's All Time Top 10 lists. The men also earned an event title in the 110-hurdles from Decathlete Joseph Tugwell, who cleared the course in :16.44. The Hurdles were a Cougars' big event, with Phoenix Popp taking the Silver (:18.27) behind Tugwell. In the obstacle free lanes, Sophomore Gal Rivlin claimed took 2nd in the 400-meters (:51.44) and Dawes joined Kainoa Carrera, Owen Arreguy and Tosh Woods to win the 4 x 100 Relay (:42. 98). In the vertical jumps, Kevin Sweeney won the pole vault, 14-5.25 to 13-1.5, over his teammate Arreguy, while Trevor Parsons took 2ndin the High Jump (5-7) by beating teammate Cal Corn on misses.
Cuesta's men sent three harriers, Jorge Merced, Nic Moore and Anthony Perez, to the Oxy Distance Carnival to face some of the biggest schools in the nation. Moore posted Cuesta's top finish with 41st (4:09.38) in the 1,500-meters, while Merced landed in 126th (4:44.93). Perez took on the 5K and finished 202nd, despite posting the Cougars' top time in the event this season at 16:57.76.
Cuesta Track & Field shall take this week off and return to action at the 2024 Western State Conference Coast Meet at Ventura on March 22 (Noon).
