Tenth-ranked Mesa men win Region I track and field title; women third

  Mesa, AZ – The tenth-ranked men's track and field team captured its second Region I championship in the last three years as the title meet wrapped up Thursday at John D. Riggs Stadium.

  The T-Birds out-distance Central Arizona, 252-243, with Pima a distant third with 157 points. The Mesa women were third with 132 points. Central Arizona won with 309 and Pima was second at 192.

  The MCC men had 11 performances that bettered NJCAA national championship qualifying standards en route to the victory.

  Three of them were produced by Cameron Lewis in weight events. He improved his national standing in the shot put to 55-11 ¼, won the hammer with a toss of 162-10 and topped the discus standard with a mark of 167-7.

  Mesa had two new additions to its list of national qualifiers, both in the 3000-meter steeplechase. David Speight was timed in 9:47.12 and Tristan Stellmach in 9:51.41 to join the list for the first time.

  Antwan Ross-Jones won the high jump at 6-10 ¾, Marcus Naisant captured the javelin at 192-5 and Kyle Downey was the pole vault champion with a leap of 15-7. All have previously posted better marks.

  In addition, Nikaeus Hale-Mercer bettered the NJCAA mark in the shot at 52-2 ¾, Carver Dumas  recorded a point total of 6702, a new mark for him, and the 4x100 relay team of Jaylen Higgins, Carver Dumas, Trent Stimac, Alex Kellybrew  was timed in 41.31.

  The Mesa women added four brand new qualifiers, two in the 800 meters and two in the 3000-meter steeplechase. In the 800, Quinn Johnson was timed in 2:17.15 and Kara Dale in 2:21.85, while in the steeplechase, Jordan Alvarez ran a    12:23.93 and Madeline Ambrosio a 12:25.43.

  Also, Justice Angel topped the pole vault standard at 10-6 but has already done better.

  The national championships will be held May 17-19 in El Dorado, Kan.