Dorado Paces Day One for Panthers
Sophomore Orlando Dorado is the most improved thrower on the Hartnell squad this spring and on Wednesday he picked up two third place finishes to kick off the Panthers team title defense. Dorado who was thirteenth in last year's Coast Conference shot put championship with a throw of 10.21m jumped up to third this year with nearly a two meter improvement at 12.19m. In the hammer, he was also third in 42.73m, an improvement on his 41.55m as a freshman. The Panthers tallied 50 points on day one but trail De Anza College by 10 points who has 60 heading into Saturday's final day.
Also competing in the hammer, Edgar Martinez placed sixth to pick up three points. He had a mark of 39.74m, an improvement on his 37.68m.
In the shot put, sophomore Tyler Bellem added four team points for his fifth place medal finish. He had a best throw of 11.43m. Zachary Sims threw a lifetime best 11.31m to grab a sixth place for the Panthers. Sims was the top long jumper for the Panthers placing fifth with a best of 6.55m. Javin Nair was sixth in the pole vault clearing 3.85m.
In the final scored event of the day, the Panthers made a big push with three in the top four overall lead by Ricky Diaz III (33:10.63) followed by Esteban Deniz (33:10.66) and Moises Benito (33:10.69). The finish brough the Panthers 17 points before Jose Velazquez added two more points in seventh at 33:32.78.
The Panthers will need to make up a 10 point deficit in order to defend their team title. The second day will begin at 11:00am with javelin, triple jump and discus. The running events will begin at 2:00pm.
