Tyson-Jay Saena Earns Hammer Title on First Day of SCIAC Championships

WHITTIER, Calif. - Tyson-Jay Saena finished in first place in the hammer throw to highlight the performance of the CMS men's track and field team on the first day of the SCIAC Championships on Saturday at Whittier College.

Adam Wilkinson was second in the steeplechase with a time of 9:04.65, which set a new CMS record, surpassing the old mark of 9:05.15 set by Bennett Naden in 2013. Arjun Natarajan added a fifth-place finish in 9:31.94 and Evan Hassman scored in seventh place with a 9:33.99. 

Most events had prelims on Saturday, with finals held in the discus, hammer, long jump, pole vault, steeplechase and 10000 meters. CMS is just behind Whittier (62-60) in the team scoring after the first day, with Pomona-Pitzer in third with 46 points, and the Stags had numerous runners advance through to finals after today's prelims, setting them up for a high-scoring second day. 

Saena earned his SCIAC title in the hammer with a top throw of 49.01 meters, while Jason Bowman took second at 47.32 meters and Truman Knowles was fifth with a throw of 41.47 meters. Alessandro Maiuolo (seventh) and Logan O'Keefe (eighth) also scored, as CMS had five of the top eight. The discus saw Bowman finish in fourth place with a throw of 39.89 meters, followed by Alessandro Maiuolo right behind in fifth at 39.73 meters. 

The long jump saw Joshua Martinez capture fourth place with a distance of 6.58 meters, while the pole vault saw John Horan in sixth at 4.41 meters, with Garegin Soghomonyan and Leo Sundstrom tying for eighth at 4.26 meters. 

In prelims for the sprints, CMS has three moving onto the finals in the 100 (Christian Campbell, Nick Teresi, Timi Balogun), five in the 200 (Jamie Cockburn, Massimo Bertini, Campbell, Teresi, Quincey Williams), and Bertini and Cockburn in the 400.

In the middle distances, Daniel Sealand and Kai Dettman advanced in the 800 as part of the top eight, while Daniel Krasemann, Noah Nevens, Sealand, Miles Christensen. Gus Albach, and Gage Hornung advanced in the 1500 as part of the top 12. The 10000 meters saw Nick Taubenheim earn sixth place with a 32:15.28, while Martinez also advanced in the 110-meter hurdles with the fourth-best time in prelims. 

Day two of the championships will get underway at 2 p.m. tomorrow with field events, including the triple jump, high jump, shot put, and javelin, with track events getting underway at 3:30 p.m.