THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Cal Lutheran men's track & field teams opens the 2020 campaign this weekend and the Kingsmen are more than ready to get out there and compete. The team consists of four seniors, five juniors, eight sophomores and 11 freshmen.
The seniors leading the way are Rigoberto Baza, Chris Brodnax, Henry Friederichs and Connor Richter. Broadnax earned All-West Region honors in 2019 as he finished the 400-meter dash in 48.31 seconds.
Broadnax also garnered All-SCIAC for his part on the 4x100 relay team, that placed third at conference. Baza, Friedrichs, and Richtor have all competed for track and field and cross country and run the majority of distance events.
On the program top-10 list, Broadnax is seventh for the 400-meter run and Baza sits seventh for 3,000 meters.
The junior class, looking to take on more leadership, is made up of Dillon Chong, Manuel Marquez, Leo Perales Jr.,Nikita Khromets and Connor Neufeld-Griffin. Khromets has inked his name on the top-10 list and is No. 9 for the 3,000-meters steeplechase with a time of 9:58.76.
The Purple and Gold competing in distance are Khromets and Neufeld-Griffin, Marquez competes in throwing events and Perales Jr. ran 100, 200 and 400-meter races. Chong transferred to CLU from Moorpark College where he did track & field and played football.
The sophomore class continues to grow in with Coach Matt Lea and the coaching staff. Back for their second year is Brendon Carbullido, Evan Cox, Garrett Gaines, Emilio Guajardo, Jason Levy, Hasant Moses-Hillman, Xavier Reynoso and Luke VanKeersbilck.
Cox flourished in his first year with the Kingsmen and earned All-West Region as a freshmen. He shined in in the hurdles and recorded a 54.38-second 400-meter hurdle run. That time was good for the No. 5 spot on the program's top-10 list.
Three sophomores garnered All-SCIAC in 2019. Cox and Moses-Hillman were part of the 4x100 relay team that placed third and Guajardo tied for second on the high jump with a career-best of 1.82 meters.
The freshmen class is the biggest as the new faces are here to make a name for themselves. The newcomers include Nicholas Abbinanti, Jonathan Aguilar, Dadrian Allen, Cooper Curtin ,Joseph Hedstrom, Chris Noji, Franklin Ruvalcaba, Adam Silverman, Easten Simpson, Leroy Stoneham Jr., and Nicholas Vasquez.
The Purple and Gold start 202 this Saturday as the Kingsmen travel to Santa Barbara, Calif., for the On Your Marks Meet. The meet starts at 11:30 a.m.
2020 Roster: Kingsmen Track & Field
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
