An extra-long bus ride from Bakersfield didn’t affect Liberty High thrower Daniel Viveros at Saturday’s 81st Santa Barbara Easter Relays at SBCC’s La Playa Stadium.
Coming off a state-leading 66-1.50 mark in the shot put during a league meet on Thursday, Viveros got off the bus after a more than four-hour ride and unleashed an astonishing 68-11 effort to shatter the meet record by nearly five feet. The previous mark was 64 feet by Carpinteria’s Noah Bryant in 2002.
Viveros’ monster throw is the ninth-best in state history and second longest in CIF-Central Section history.
According to PrepCalTrack.com, the state record is 76-2 set by Fallbrook’s Brent Noon in 1990. The section and Kern County record is 71-10 by Bakersfield’s Van Mounts in 1997.
Viveros, the defending CIF State Champion, is the national leader in the shot put.
“Better than I expected for sure,” Viveros said of his mark. “I was still hoping for a big mark today but I didn’t expect that.”
He said the bus trip took almost four hours because one of the freeways was closed.
It apparently didn’t bother him or the rest of the Liberty team, which won a total of 12 varsity events on Saturday.
“I threw a 67-something warm-up,” he said.
The 68-11 came on his third throw of the competition.
Ventura’s Carlos Aviles, the No. 4-ranked thrower in the state, was in the field, and that motivated Viveros.
“Whenever there’s a guy out there, you want to bring your ‘A’ game and make sure you’re throwing far. It really helps,” said Viveros.
Aviles finished second with a season-best throw of 62-03.
Viveros has signed with Ole Miss.
“They have a great coach, I love the facilities there and all the people are really nice,” he said of his decision to attend the SEC school.
Later in the day, Viveros won the discus with a throw of 175-01.
It was a big day for Liberty, as the Patiots won six varsity relay events and six individual events.
Reese Lenz and Faith Bender each won two events for the Liberty girls team. Lenz took the 100 hurdles in 14.55 and the long jump with a leap of 18-01.50. Bender swept the throws, taking the shot put at 45-0 and discus with a mark of 151-03. Bender ranks third in the state in both events while Lenz is fourth in the 100 hurdles.
Locally, the Carpinteria sprint medley quartet of Caesar Rinaldi, Saul Hernandez, Solomon Nahooikaika and Victor Rinaldi took first place with a time of 1:37.32. Anchor Victor Rinaldi ran a brilliant 400 anchor leg, overtaking a group of runners on the back stretch and finishing strong.
“Victor, he’s tough. He runs with a lot heart,” Carpinteria coach Van Latham said. “That was a nice move he made to pass that pack just before the turn.”
Said Rinaldi: “I ran at Oaks Christian (at the Maurice Green Invitational) two weeks ago and I ran against a lot of the same guys in the 400. It was like a rematch.”
The junior credited Solomon Nahooikaika for running “a super 200” on the third leg. “He runs track and plays tennis — he’s our super athlete.”
The relay usually consists of three Rinaldi brothers, Victor and sophomore twins Vincent and Caesar. Vincent, however, was sidelined with an injury.
“This is the team we targeted to be in this meet,” Latham said. “We had to make a last-minute substitution because one of our runners ended up with a bad hip from the dual meet. The other twin, who’s been coming off a hip problem, stepped in and did a great job.”
Victor Rinaldi was excited about racing at the varsity relay.
“Last year, my brothers and I got second in the frosh-soph race, so we were looking to do something special this year,” he said.
“We thought we could run a fast time and we did,” Latham said. “To come out with a win. is just icing on the cake.”
Beau Allen of San Marcos won the high jump at 6-8, beating Canyons junior Tyler Cash on fewer misses. The mark was a PR for Cash.
“I was just going to have fun and I made it,” Cash said about jumping at 6-8.
Allen, who two weeks ago became the first Santa Barbara County prep to clear 7 feet, said after missing his final attempt at 6-10: “I had the height, I’m just not finishing.”
Righetti won the girls 4×100 relay behind the strong anchor leg of Reann Booker. It was a tight race between Righetti and Oxnard going into the final handoff. No. 3 runner Kailani Cabanting and Booker made a clean exchange while Oxnard’s runners got tangled up. Booker hit the finish line in 49.51 and Oxnard came in second in 49.88.
The other members of the Righetti relay team were Brianna Labastida and Rayann Booker.
“I felt pretty good,” Reann Booker said of her anchor leg. “I saw (Oxnard’s Arissa Thompson) coming on and I said: ‘No!’ I got a later sacred, but I said, ‘I got to get this.’”
Cabanting said things are looking up for the team.
“We can totally go up from here,” she said.
Righetti also got a win from Rayann Booker, Reann’s twin sister in the 100. She beat Oxnard’s state-ranked Thompson, 12.24 to 12.37.
Easter Relays Winners
Liberty girls 4×200 relay 1:45
Liberty boys 4×200 relay 1:32.03
Half Moon Bay girls 4×800 relay 9:56.44
Liberty boys 4×800 relay, 8:21.32
Righetti girls 4×100 relay 49.51
Liberty boys 4×100 relay 43.68
Oxnard girls 800 sprint medley 1:55.18
Carpinteria boys 800 sprint medley 1:37.32
Half Moon bay girls distance medley 12:52.07
Paso Robles boys distance medley 10:46.10
Liberty girls 4×400 relay 4:09.57
Liberty boys 4×400 relay 3:28.81
Girls 100 hurdles: Reese Lenz, Liberty, 14.55
Boys 110 hurdles: Landon Mispagel, Siena, Justin, 15.48
Boys 100 Isaiah Marecheau, Oxnard, 10.90
Girls 100: Rayann Booker, Righetti, 12.24
Girls 3200: Jicel Fernandez-Ramirez, El Camino Real 11:41.88
Boys 3200: Ased Adus, Ridgeview, 9:35.74
Girls Mile: Hayden Washington, West Ranch, 5:25.48
Boys Mile: Arvin Sales, Glendale, 4:33.30
Girls Discus: Faith Bender, Liberty, 151-03
Boys Shot Put: Daniel Viveros, Liberty, 68-11
Boys Long Jump: Justine Fair, Arroyo Grande, 21-02
Girls Long Jump: Reese Lenz, Liberty, 18-01.50
Girls Pole Vault: Ciera Muscarella, Camarillo, 11-03
Boys High Jump: Beau Allen, San Marcos, 6-08
Boys Pole Vault: David Miketta, La Canada, 15-0
Girls High Jump: Gianna Troppy, Siena, Justin, 5-02
Girls Shot Put: Faith Bender, Liberty, 45-0
Girls Triple Jump: Sophia Hartwell Orange Lutheran, 39-09.75
Boys Triple Jump: Connor Lacy, Paso Robles, 43-01.50
Boys Discus: Daniel Viveros, Liberty, 175-01