Personal bests fall at OEC meet
The Saddleback men's track & field team was in action on Friday, competing against both Riverside City College and Orange Coast College. The Gauchos were led by thrower Christian Ydens and set a number of personal bests.
Ydens (pictured) was a workhorse, winning the hammer throw while finishing third in the discus and tying for fourth in the shot put. He set a personal best in the hammer when he tossed the rock 172'9" in winning the event. His throw was the fourth best throw in the state this spring. Ydens also had a solid throw of 40.98 meters in the discus, which ranks 23rd in the state this season. He then finished in a tie for fourth place in the shot put (39'5").
Saddleback finished 1-2 in the hammer as Eric McArthur was a second place finisher in the event (171'1"). McArthur ranks No. 3 in the state in the event after throwing 176'7" in Bakersfield last week.
Matt James also had a solid day in the throws events for Saddleback, finishing fourth in both the shot put and discus. James set a personal best in the shot (39'5") while tossing the discus 38.64 meters. Another top-5 finisher in throw events for Saddleback was Alex Schecter, who was fifth in the discus throw (37.57 meters).
Tommy McWilliams had a season-best when he finished second in the high jump. McWilliams cleared 1.85 meters, which was the 17th best leap of the year.
Another second place finisher was Aruba Tucker, who blazed the track to finish second in the 110-meter hurdles. Tucker finished the event in 15.66 and was an eyelash out of first.
Other top-5 finishes were turned in by Nicholas Dorsett and Zachary Coon. Dorsett finished third in the 1,500 meters when he turned in a personal best time of 4:08.30, and his time ranks No. 34 in the state this spring. Coon tied for third place in the pole vault with a jump of 3.66 meters.
Saddleback will be back in action on April 20 at the Orange Empire Conference prelims.