LBCC excelled at the 2025 Track & Field South Coast Conference Prelims meet on Tuesday April 22, with many runners qualifying to advance to the finals.
The meet also included participants from Cerritos College, El Camino College, Compton College, Pasadena City College, East Los Angeles College, and Mt. San Antonio College.
Cerritos College Elijah Jones; MT. SAC Joshua Cervantez and Spencer Schuler race in the 400-meter hurdle race for the 2025 South Coast Conference Prelims. (Jose Calix)
LBCC runner Marques Guzman placed first overall in the men’s 200-meter dash, with a final time of 21.72 in the first heat.
Guzman also placed second overall in the men’s 100-meter dash after placing first in the second heat of the 100-meter dash, which he completed in 10.82 seconds.
Cerritos College runner Sebastian Lopez came in first place after only completing in the first heat due to an injury.
Cerritos College Sebastian Lopez lays on the ground after getting injured in middle of the 100-meter race for the 2025 South Coast Conference Prelims. (Jose Calix)
“Today was just a prelim. For the 100 I ran 10.8, I know I’m better than that, so coming on Saturday, I’ll be the champion for the 100,” Guzman said.
With these placements, Guzman qualifies to advance to the finals for both the men’s 200-meter and 100-meter dashes.
LBCC Track & field athlete Marques Guzman races in the 200-meter race at the South Coast Conference Prelims. Guzman won first place on the 200-meter race. (Jose Calix)
Inversely, runner Nevaeh Lane placed first in the women’s 100-meter dash with a 12.29 second time, and placed second in the 200-meter dash prelim with a 25.4 second time.
Similarly, Lane will advance to the finals for both women’s 100-meter and 200-meter dashes where she will be joined by fellow qualifier, runner Naomi Coffee.
Coffee placed sixth overall in the women’s 100-meter dash, and placed ninth in the women’s 200-meter dash.
LBCC also performed well in both the men’s and women’s 400-meter dash.
Runner Malaki Alexander-Fonfora placed fifth overall despite finishing his dash in 49.79 seconds, which was the third quickest time for the men’s 400-meter dash.
This is due to the rule where the top runners of each heat will automatically advance, and the remaining qualifiers are based on next best times.
Alexander-Fonfora ran in the second heat where he placed second, and will advance to the men’s 400-meter dash finals with runner Justin Auston, who placed eighth overall in the men’s 400-meter.
“It feels good, and I’m glad that I could get second in that. I’m trying to get faster, I used to be slower, I kinda just got better, a little bit,” said Alexander-Fonfora.
Rylee Montez placed fourth overall for the women’s 400-meter dash, though placed third in the second heat where she completed the dash in 61.21 seconds.
“Considering it was my first time running it, I think I did good. At the beginning of the season I didn’t want to do anything with the 400, but now that I’ve been doing the 4×4, I think it’s progression,” said Montez.
Montez will advance to the women’s 400-meter dash finals alongside runner Sa’mir Braccey, who placed seventh overall.
Runners Danika Hunter, who placed seventh overall in the women’s 800-meter run, and Riki Moscoso, who placed third overall in the men’s 1500-meter run, will also advance to the finals in their respective categories.
Moscoso also competed in the men’s 10,000-meter run final, where he placed fourth, and runner Jennifer Martinez placed sixth for the women’s 10,000-meter run final.
SCC athletes run in women’s the 10,000-meter race or the 2025 South Coast Conference Prelims. (Jose Calix)
Regarding field sports, shot putter Saryah Harris-Davis, who placed third in women’s shot put, was the only LBCC field athlete of the day who was able to advance to the finals for women’s shot put.
The meet for the 2025 South Coast Conference Track & Field finals will also be held at LBCC on Saturday April 26 at 1 p.m.