Cerritos College sophomore decathlete Nicholas Armstrong (Long Beach Poly HS) compiled 6479 points at the Southern California decathlon Championships on Tuesday and Wednesday at Cerritos College to win the championship. His point total is also the third-highest in school history. Sophomore teammate David Thomas (Cerritos HS) finished sixth out of the 32 entries with 5595 points. The two athletes collected 13 team points toward the Southern California Championships, which will take place at Mt. San Antonio College on May 9. They have both also advanced to the state championships, as the top six finishers qualified. Prior to that, the Falcon track team will compete in the SCC Preview Meet this Friday at Compton College at noon.

 

    Of the 10 events in the decathlon, Armstrong won two, placed second in one and had three fourth place finishes. Armstrong won the discus with a distance of 130' 7 1/2", as well as his specialty, the high jump. In that event, he leaped 6' 7" to easily defeat his opponents. In the first event of the decathlon, Armstrong raced to a 15.46 in the 110-meter IH to come in second place, while his time of 50.88 was good for fourth place in the 400-meters. He also came in fourth place in the shot put (38' 8 1/2") and in the long jump (20' 6 3/4"), while he turned in sixth place finishes in both the javelin (153' 7") and the 100-meters, with a time of 11.66.

 

    As for Thomas, he turned in his best finish in the javelin, where he came in second place with a distance of 168' 10, while he finished fourth in the discus at 117' 7". In the shot put, Thomas placed seventh with a throw of 36' 3 1/2", and also came in seventh in the pole vault with a height of 12' 6".