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EU, Ripon grads place fourth in JUCO state track meet
CCCAA state track meet
East Union alumnus Marco Perez shows off his medal and All-America certificate earned by taking fourth in the 5,000-meter run Saturday during the California Community Colleges Athletic Association Track & Field State Championships in Walnut. - photo by Contributed

Two Manteca-area products placed fourth in the California Community Colleges Athletic Association Track & Field State Championships this past weekend.

Delta College’s Marco Perez (East Union) medaled in the 5,000-meter run Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. He finished in 14 minutes, 57.86 seconds and earned All-America honors.

Aaron Wood (Ripon) took fourth in the decathlon with 6,081 points, spearheading a trio of Modesto Junior College athletes in the event. He shined in field events, taking first in the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 4 1/3 inches and the pole vault with a 14-5 ¼. Wood was also third in the long jump (21-10 ¼).

MJC’s men’s 4x400 team placed eighth in 3:17.56 and consisted of three local alums — Sonny Dozier (Manteca), Dominic Favaloro (Manteca) and Landon West (Ripon). Joining them was Malachi Cox of Livingston. Dozier also competed in the long jump, placing fifth with a top leap of 23-0.

Perla Valdovinos (Sierra) and Abraham Alsaidi (Ripon) round out MJC’s state qualifiers from the area. Valdovinos took sixth in the javelin (112-2) and seventh in the discus (120-3), while Alsaidi was 10th in the 5,000 (15:24.68).

Erielle De La Cruz (Lathrop) of Delta was another multi-event participant, finishing seventh in the long jump (17-8 ¼) and ninth in the triple jump (34-5 ½). Miekayla Surnip topped out at 105-5 to place ninth in the javelin. Jorge Machuca (Weston Ranch) wound up 10th in the 10,000 with a time of 32:54.66.

It was the first CCCAA state meet held since 2019, as the last two were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meet host Mt. San Antonio College dominated en route to winning both the men’s and women’s team titles.