Men finish 10th at SoCal Finals
The Saddleback men's track & field team finished in tenth place at the CCCAA Southern California Regional Finals on Saturday in Riverside. The Gauchos will send three individuals to the state meet in San Mateo this week.
Saddleback's Blake Baloun, Alex Schechter and Collin Hurd will all compete at the state meet starting Friday after solid finishes at the regional finals.
Baloun earned points in two separate events, finishing second in the shot put and sixth in the discus. He heaved the shot 15.08 meters on his fifth throw of the day, which was 0.21 meters off a personal best set at the OEC Finals. Baloun also finished sixth in the discus with a throw of 42.69, which was a personal best.
Schechter (pictured) qualified in the hammer throw after a third place finish on Saturday. He had a throw of 50.93 meters on his fifth toss, which was 2.97 meters off of his personal best.
Hurd has shown steady improvement throughout the season and had it all come to a head on Saturday in the 400 meter hurdles. He had a personal best in the prelims when running a 54.61, which tied him for 13th all-time in Saddleback history. Hurd then ran a 55.64 in the finals to finish fifth.
Saddleback's 10th place finish marks the 10th straight season that the Gaucho men have finished in the top-10 at the SoCal Finals.