Bas van Leersum claimed fifth place in the 400 hurdles on Saturday at the Southern Cal Men’s Track & Field Prelims, leading five SBCC qualifiers at Riverside City College.
Van Leersum, who won a WSC title two weeks ago, was clocked in 54.74. Scott Santella placed sixth in the javelin on Friday with a PR of 52.15 meters.
The top 8 in lane events and top 12 in non-lane events (1500 and up) advanced to the Southern Cal Championships on May 9-10 at Riverside.
Alex Heuchert was fifth in the 1500 with a PR of 3:59.36. The other qualifiers were Omar Padilla and Martin Montes, who took fourth and sixth in the 5000 final last week at the WSC Championships.
Padilla, a sophomore from Cabrillo High, ran a 30-second personal best in the 10,000, finishing 13th in a 28-runner field in 33:22. Michael Orosco also had a season best of 12.11m in the shot put.
The Vaquero relay teams both posted season bests but didn’t advance. James Herb, Cameo Goree, David Battisti and Nick Smith stopped the clock at 42.61 for the 8th-fastest time in school history. In the 4 x 400, Herb, Victor Sanchez, Zach Clark and Van Leersum ran 3:21.75.
