Golden West College Men's Track & Field Competes at 2025 Orange Empire Conference Championships

COSTA MESA, Calif. – The Golden West College men's track and field competed at the 2025 Orange Empire Conference Championships on Saturday, April 26, hosted by Orange Coast College. The Rustlers showed competitive spirit across both track and field events, led by standout performances from a talented freshman class.

Freshman Max Fister delivered one of the team's top performances, placing fifth in the 400-meter hurdles finals with a time of 57.26 after posting a 56.73 in preliminaries. Fister also earned a fifth-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 12.92m (42'4.75") and placed ninth in the long jump with a leap of 6.14m (20'1.75"), highlighting his versatility.

Golden West's 4x400-meter relay team raced to a fourth-place finish, clocking a time of 3:52.63 to score key points for the Rustlers.

In the field events, freshman Andrew Johnson cleared 3.05 meters (10'0") in the pole vault, placing sixth overall, while Killian Nguyen added a point for the Rustlers with an eighth-place finish in the shot put, recording a throw of 12.90 meters (42'4").

On the track, John Tran led the Rustlers in the sprints, clocking 12.09 in the 100 meters and 24.74 in the 200 meters, despite battling strong headwinds. Darren Nguyen also competed in the 100 meters and 400-meter hurdles preliminaries, gaining valuable championship experience.

In distance events, Vincent Quach ran 5:05.98 in the 1500 meters, while Alejandro Lewis turned in a solid performance in the 5000 meters with a time of 17:03.72.

Freshman John Tran also showcased his jumping ability with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump at 11.82 meters (38'9.5"), adding to his busy day of competition.

Four Rustlers qualified for next weekends SoCal Prelims held at Saddleback College:

Andrew Johnson – Pole Vault

Max Fister – 400m hurdles, triple jump

John Tran – triple jump (at large qualifier)

Killian Nguyen – shot put (at large qualifier)