Vikings Open Season with Strong Performances at SCC Preview Meet

The Long Beach City College track and field team kicked off their 2025 season with a promising showing at the South Coast Conference preview meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Several Vikings notched top-three finishes, with both freshmen and returning athletes making an impact in their season debut.

"Happy with how our team opened up the season," said Head Distance Coach Julio Jimenez. "Some of our freshmen crushed their high school personal bests, and several of our returners matched last season's best marks. I am excited to see everyone race this weekend in their individual events at Ventura."

 On the men's side, Marques Guzman was a standout performer, winning the 150m with a time of 16.35 seconds and taking third in the 60m dash at 7.07 seconds. Antonio Powers placed second in the triple jump, recording a mark of 12.98m, while Gavin Wang also secured a runner-up finish in the javelin with a throw of 47.12m. Riki Moscoso rounded out the men's top-five finishes with a 4:18.81 in the 1500m.

 "After not competing with a team for a year and a half, it felt really nice to cheer on my teammates and have a crowd motivate me while I raced," said Moscoso. "Racing this weekend was extremely fun, and considering it's the first race, I think it was pretty successful. Moving forward, I need to work on keeping my concentration during the race and just keep working hard."

 For the Viking women, Danika Hunter placed third in the 600m with a time of 1:46.18, while also helping the distance medley relay team—Itzel Aguilar, Hunter, Jennifer Martinez, and April Molina—secure third place in 14:27.09. In the field events, Zion Peters cleared 1.40m in the high jump to finish third, and Natalie Paredes threw 10.64m in the shot put to claim another third-place spot for Long Beach.

"The season opener went well," said Head Women's Coach Karen Vigilant. "The primary goal of this meet was to assess whether our athletes could compete at a high level, and most of them rose to the challenge. As we head into the upcoming meets, our focus as coaches will be on refining their skills and ensuring they're ready for the big stage. Excited for a successful 2025 track season ahead!"

The Vikings will look to build on their strong start when they compete at the Ventura Invitational this Saturday.