Bobcats have good showing at OCC

The Saddleback men's track & field team participated at the Orange Coast College Invitational on Friday in Costa Mesa.  The Bobcats came away pleased, with a number of top-5 performances.

Saddleback's men's team has been overshadowed a bit in 2022 by the women's team, who has shattered a number of program records.  The men haven't broken any records, but continue to progress and looked solid on Friday at Orange Coast College.  The Bobcats had nine finishes in the top-5 of events, winning three events along the way.

Saddleback won in the long jump, shot put and 3,000 meter steeplechase with Joseph Friske, Sam Gatta and Timothy Lacanienta putting together great performances.  Friske easily had his best jump of the season when he leaped 6.52 meters (21' 4.75 ") to win the event by 2.25 inches.  Gatta was a winner in the shot put with a toss of 13.77 meters (45' 2.25").  He is currently ninth in the state after throw of 46' 11" at the Occidental College Invitational a week earlier.  Lacanienta put together a great performance in the steeplechase, winning with a personal-best time of 10:51.74.  

Grant Karn finished in the top-5 in two separate events, finishing third in the high jump and fifth in the long jump.  Karn had a leap of 1.8 meters (5' 10.75") in the high jump and 6.29 meters (20' 7.75") in the long jump, which were both personal-best scores.

Saddleback did quite well in the pole vault, finishing second and third.  Koa Kosco was second when he cleared 4.1 meters (13' 5.25") and Trazler McGrath was third with a vault of 3.8 meters (12' 5.5"). 

Two others had top-5 performances in Jullian Dorantes-Lara and Ezekiel Sapp.  Dorantes-Lara finished fourth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:22.10.  Sapp finished fourth in the hammer with a toss of 32.91 meters (108').

Saddleback track & field will be back in action on Friday when they host the Saddleback Invitational inside the Saddleback Stadium.