Van Leersum captures State title in 400 hurdles

Bas van Leersum capped off a spectacular season by winning a State title in the 400 hurdles on Saturday in the CCCAA Men's Track & Field Championships at College of San Mateo.

He broke the school record for the fourth time this year with his 52.20 clocking. He was the No. 1 seed coming into the State meet with a time of 52.51.

The sophomore from the Netherlands earned All-American status. He won WSC titles in the 400 meters and 400 hurdles and added a Southern Cal Championship last week in the 400 hurdles.

Alex Heuchert, a sophomore from San Marcos High, was fifth in the 1500 in 3:56.31. He was the 2nd-best runner from Southern Cal, improving on his fourth-place finish in the So Cal Championships.

"The men had a great couple of days, scoring 20 points with a State champion and two All-Americans," said coach Scott Fickerson. "It is a great accomplishment just to get here and I am very proud of all four of them."

Aaron Mateski earned All-American honors with his third-place effort in the javelin (192 feet, 4 inches) on Friday and Marvin Magg took 10th place.