Led By Jesse O'Brien Victory, Mesa Men Haul Home Seven Medals At Mt. SAC Relays
Blaze Eisner had a productive day at the Mt. SAC Relay's, taking home two medals including this effort in the 4 x 400 Relay.
The Mesa Men had a strong day at the Mt. SAC Relays, Saturday, April 7, with seven medal winning performances. The 800 meters proved to be the strongest event of all for the team with Jesse O'Brien winning with a fine time of 1:53.87, followed closely by the third place finish of Dave Edwards in 1:54.91. Dave had earlier gathered his first medal of the day with another third place finish, this time running a 3:55.99 in the 1500 meters. In the second heat of the 1500 meters, Chris Capeau added a silver medal, running a 4:10.32 that narrowing missed the victory. Next up was the 400 meter hurdles where Carlton Smith ran a strong time of 56.80 and Blaze Eisner added to the medal haul with a second place finish, running 1:01.05 in the third heat of the event. Daniel Gonia then did his part by touring the track for 5000 meters, finishing in 15:14.85 as he crossed the line in third place. Finally, to finish up the day's meet Carlton Smith, Dimity Erudaitius, Blaze Eisner, and Jesse O'Brien stormed home on the strength of O'Brien's strong anchor leg in the 4 x 400 Relay to gather second place. The men will compete in the Cal State Dominguez Hills Invitational this week.
Dave Edwards leads men with win at Pt. Loma College Invitational
Dave Edwards won the 800 meters and anchored the 4 x 400 meter relay at the Pt. Loma College Invitational
The San Diego Mesa College men's track & field team competed on Saturday, March 24 at the Pt. Loma College Invitational. Dave Edwards continued his productive season with a win in the men's 800 meters. His time of 1:54.70 was a personal best and moved him to 7th on the state performance list. Not done yet, Edwards anchored the Mesa 4 x 400 relay team with a let of 50.0 as the team ran 3:28.80 to capture their heat. Dimitry Eruidatius also ran a personal best of 2:03.73 and won his heat of the 800 meters. Carlton Smith added his name onto the state performance list with a 55.28 second time in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles. His time currently ranks him 9th. In addition, Elgin Thomas had two top performances in the 100 meters (11.02) and the 200 meters (22.07) with his 200 meter time placing him in 21st position on the state leader board
Mesa Distance Men Shine at Occidental Distance Carnival
Jesse O'Brien battles for the lead down the stretch in the 800 meters at the Occidental Distance Carnival.
The Mesa College Distance had an outstanding meet at the Occidental Distance Carnival. Mesa runners took three top-four places in different races, all with runners moving high onto the state leader's board.
First up was Jesse O'Brien in the 800 meters. O'Brien finished second in a tightly contested race, finishing just .08 seconds out of first in an exciting battle down the home stretch. His time of 1:52.24 moved him up to second on the state performance list and was less than a half of second off of his all-time best.
Next up was Dave Edwards. Freshman Edwards was competing in his first 1500 meter race after a high school career that focused mostly on the 800 meter distance. His third place finish, with a time of 3:54.84 , shot him to the top of the state leader board.
Not to be out done, Daniel Gonia ran his first 5000 meter race on the track, running tough throughout the distance while finishing fourth in an extremely competitive time of 15:03.15. Not only did this move him to fourth on the state leader's list, the time qualified him for the USATF Junior National Track & Field Championships, which will be held in Indianapolis in June.
Coach Thom Hunt was "extremely pleased that we came out and competed so well. We're looking forward to building upon this early success and heading toward achieving our goals during the championship part of the season".
The men's track and field team will next compete in the Pt. Loma College Invitational this Saturday.