Vikings Athletic Week in Review- 3/7/2022: Basketball Ends Season in SoCal Regionals, Swim Hosts First Meet at KLAC
Men's Basketball- Men's Basketball Moves on to Rd. 2 of SoCal Regional Playoffs
The No. 20 men's basketball team opened the SoCal Regional Playoffs with a win against No. 13/15 Irvine Valley. The Vikings then traveled to No. 4 San Diego City (25-3) on Thursday, March 3 for Rd. 2.
The Vikings last faced the Knights during the 2017-18 season in the second round of the SoCal Regional Playoffs.
The Knights came out the gates shooting as they beat the Vikings 88-72 to end the Vikings season with an 18-12 overall record. Freshman guard Bonard Johnson Jr. led the Vikings with 19 points, while freshman forward Kameron Mayhan and sophomore forward Christian St. James both tallied 18 points for the Vikings.
The Long Beach City College men's basketball team will return next season.
Women's Basketball- No. 9 Women's Basketball Defeats No.8 Bakersfield To Move to Rd. 3 of SoCal Regionals
The No.9 Long Beach City College women's basketball team took down the No. 8 Bakersfield College 69-59 on Thursday afternoon in Round 2 of the California Community College Athletics Association SoCal Regionals.
Then the Vikings moved onto Round 3, where they traveled to No. 1 Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday, March 5 at 7 p.m.
The Vikings fought a hard battle, but the Mounties ultimately took down the Vikings 67-47. Sophomore wing Navi Huskey led the team with 15 points and had nine rebounds. Sophomore center Ivori Scott had the only Viking double-double of the game as she totaled 10 points and had 16 rebounds, along with three blocks.
The Vikings will return next season.
Softball- No. 2 Softball Walks-Off No. 7 Santa Ana 1-0
The No. 2 Softball team defeated No. 7 Santa Ana College with a walk-off 1-0 win on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Vikings advance to 9-3 overall.
Sophomore pitcher Daisy Torres (8-2) earned the win in the circle with dismantling the Dons to only six hits, while striking down three.
"Daisy Torres was brilliant in the circle, her and our defense made today happen," said Head Coach Megan Martinez. "Our energy and our resilience allowed us to be victorious."
The Vikings' defense was relentless with the Dons. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning when the Vikings loaded the bases. Freshman pinch hitter Racine Raucho was at-bat and received four balls in a row to allow her to walk in freshman pinch runner Haley Veazie to walk-off with the 1-0 win.
"The entire game was a pitcher's duel," said freshman catcher Jaylene Ross. "We were finally able to pick it up in the seventh inning."
The Vikings returned to the field on Thursday, March 3 and defeated Rio Hondo 5-1. Torres earned her ninth win in the circle, as the Vikings are now 6-2 in the South Coast Conference.
The Long Beach City College softball team will be back in action on Tuesday, March 8 at East Los Angeles at 3 p.m. at 3 p.m.
To view the remainder of the softball schedule, click here.
Baseball- Sanders' Blasts Walk-Off Home Run to Take Down Mt. SAC
The No. 19 Long Beach City College baseball team had a 7-5 walk-off win against No. 13 Mt. San Antonio College Mounties on Thursday afternoon. With the win, the Vikings go to 9-7 overall and are 4-1 in the South Coast Conference.
Sophomore pitcher Reed Passmore (1-2) earned his first win on the hill by shutting out the Mounties with no hits or runs, while striking down four in three solids innings of work.
The Mounties scored the first run with an RBI single and then followed it with a triple to score in to more and lead the Vikings 3-0 from the start.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman designated hitter Moises Guzman hit an RBI single to score in freshman left fielder Ryan Guerero, then freshman shortstop Alex Seguine batted in Guzman for the Vikings' second run, and freshman third baseman Evan Vazquez finished off the rally with a double to left field to score in freshman right fielder Raul Garcia and Seguine to lead the Mounties 4-3.
The Mounties tied the game 4-4 in the top of the fifth and then hit an RBI double in the sixth to lead the Vikings once again 5-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Viking bases were loaded and Guerero reached first on a fielder's choice, then the Mounties' third baseman over threw to first and freshman catcher Malik Clayton ran in from second to tie the game 5-5.
Then in the final inning and with Clayton on first, freshman centerfielder Bryan Sanders smashed the ball over the left field fence for a walk-off home run.
The Vikings will be back on the field tomorrow at Pasadena College at 2 p.m.
To view the rest of the baseball schedule, click here.
LBCC Hall of Champions To Welcome Class of 2022 on March 18
Long Beach City College Athletics will recognize the 17th class of the Hall of Champions on Friday, March 18, at The Grand: 4101 E Willow St., Long Beach, CA 90815 at 6 p.m. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 class will be inducted this year as the 2022 Hall of Champions class. RSVP HERE to secure your seat now! Here are the inductees:
Cia Cobb
Aquatics
2001-2003
Vern Followell
Baseball
1976 & 1977
Richard Graves
Track & Field
1985-1986
Jim Murphy
Football/Wrestling
1960-1961
Mark Robbins
Football/Track
1980-1981
Derek Santifer
Football
1985-1986
Grant Uba
Meritorious
1991-2018
Kristian Wintrich
Volleyball
1994-1995
Beach Volleyball- Beach Volleyball Takes Down San Diego City 4-1 at Home
The Long Beach City College beach volleyball team defeated the San Diego City Knights 4-1 on Friday afternoon at the new sand courts at the Kinesiology Labs and Aquatic Center.
Freshmen Emma Pearson and McKayla Varela, Arianna Ortiz and Amanda Ferreira-Felipe all swept their opponents with 2-0 set wins. While Jennifer Lias and Pearlnaiah Tuliau, and Caleyse Saunders and Celestial Ropati dropped their second sets, but came back in the third to take the win away from the Knights.
LONG BEACH 1, San Diego City 4
SDCC def. Lizbeth Lopez/ Karyzma Aualiitia 19-21, 21-8, 17-19
LBCC def. SDCC Jennifer Lias/Pearlnaiah Tuliau 21-12, 10-21, 15-12
LBCC def. SDCC Caleyse Saunders, Celestial Ropati 21-12, 15-21, 15-13
LBCC def. SDCC Amanda Ferreira-Felipe/ Arianna Ortiz 21-14, 21-19
LBCC def. SDCC Emma Pearson/McKayla Varela (LBCC) 21-6, 21-13
The Vikings will be back in the sand on Friday, March 11 against Victor Valley at 10 a.m.
To view the rest of the beach volleyball schedule, click here.
Swim and Dive- Swim & Dive Host First Conference Meet in New Facility
The Long Beach City College swim and & dive team hosted Cerritos College and Chaffey College in their first home conference meet at the new aquatics complex.
The women's swim team displayed top finishes as freshmen Sydney Brouwer and Maggie Damon took first in all of their events. Brouwer swam a 12:04.01 in the 1000-yard freestyle, a 2:28.15 in the 200 butterfly, and a 57.59 in the 100 freestyle. Damon swam a 1:19.56 in the 100-yard breaststoke, a 2:50.39 in the 200 breaststroke, and a 2:35.76 in the 100 individual medley for her podium finishes.
Freshman Kaya Barrett was right being Damon in the 200 breaststroke with a second place 2:52.79 finish. She also placed first in the 200 freestyle with a 2:09.93.
The men's team also had top finishes as freshman sprinter Sullivan Moore took first in the 50 free with a 21.94, and in the 100 free with a 49.41. Freshman Nicolas Fedotov swam a 1:52.06 in the 200 free, and a 2:07.55 in the 200 individual medley and placed first in both his events.
Rounding out the top first place finishes was freshman distance swimmer Mazen Abouelela with the 1000-yard freestyle with a 10:39.15, and the 200 backstroke with a 2:14.64.
The Vikings will be back in the pool on March 11 at the Cuesta Invitational. To see the remainder of the swim and dive schedule, click here.
Track & Field- Track & Field's McGill Takes 1st in the 200m at Beach Opener
The Long Beach City College track & field team competed in the Beach Opener at the Jack Rose Track over the weekend.
Freshman Azjani McGill took first overall in the Community College 200 meter section with a State 'B' qualifying time of 21.63. The men's relays did exceptionally well as the 4x400m team (Armando Padilla, Jonathan Perez-Cortez, Xavier Evans, Azjani McGill) took second in the Community College section with a time of 3:25.06, and the 4x100m team (McGill, Jordan Ikeda, Wesley Easter, Terrance Clay) took fourth overall with a time of 42.75.
Freshman Jonathan Perez-Cortez earned fourth in the 800m section with a time of 1:57.85, and freshman LaSalle Jackson earned a spot in fifth place in the triple jump with a jump of 14.42m (47.4").
To finalize then men's top finishes, freshman distance runner Leo Acevedo took sixth place in the 1500m with a personal best time of 4:10.74, freshman Armando Padilla also placed sixth in the 400m hurdle section with a season best time of 59.02, and sophomore Christian Virga earned sixth place on the pole vault with a jump of 3.78m (12'5").
For the women's team, freshman Radiance Lindsey earned third in the 400m hurdles, and fourth in the 100m hurdle section. Freshman Ailene Rios took fourth in the 1500m section with a 5:19.77, while freshman Destinee Reid placed fifth in the 100m and 200m with her season best times of 13.02 and 27.13.
Freshman hurdler Taj Grant placed sixth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:11.63. To round of the women's team finalists, freshman Natalie Mejia took sixth place in the high jump with a leap of 1.40m (4'7").
The track & field teams will compete against at home at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday, March 11 at the LBCC Vikings Invitational. Field events begin at 11 a.m., and track events begin at 1 p.m.
To see the remainder of the track & field schedule, click here.
Men's Volleyball- Men's Volleyball Sweeps Antelope Valley 3-0
The men's volleyball team swept the Antelope Valley Marauders 3-0 last Friday in the Building Q Gym. With the fifth consecutive win, the Vikings hold an 8-1 record, and are now undefeated 3-0 in the Western State Conference.
The Vikings breezed through the Marauders with the set scores of 25-21, 25-10, and 25-14.
Freshman middle blocker Alfred Dougherty was on fire for the Vikings as he led the team with 15 points, and topped the night with five consecutive aces. He also totaled six digs and had three blocks against Antelope Valley.
Sophomore setter Joseph Rocha totaled 25 assists for the Vikings, while collecting a pair of kills and an ace. Freshman outside hitter Erick Hernandez had nine kills on the game, with three aces and seven digs.
The men's volleyball team will be back in action on Wed, March 9 at Moorpark for their next Western State Conference game at 6 p.m.
To see the remainder of the Vikings schedule, click here.