He already clinched the title prior to what would have been the last throw of the competition as he watched the rest of the field fall short of his third round mark.

His first attempt of 64.76 meters would have been good enough to secure his second Division III hammer title and third national championship overall in as many years. Flores won the NAIA title in this same event while attending Black Hills State in South Dakota.

The hammer throw was the first completed event of the three-day competition putting Cal Lutheran atop the standings to be crowned the 2011 Track and Field National Champions. Flores earned 10 points for his victory and will look to provide more scoring in the shot put.

He is currently seeded second overall heading into the event which is set to begin on Friday, May 27 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Flores will be joined tomorrow by teammate Toccoa Kahovec who will compete in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase to close out Friday's competition at 6 p.m. PST.

Britlyn Garrett (women's javelin) and Eric Rogers (men's triple jump) will compete simultaneously on Saturday, May 28 at 9 a.m. PST as the final CLU competitors.

After winning one title earlier in the afternoon, Hayes could now begin his journey back home to earn his second title of the weekend - uncle.

Even though he only possessed two years of competitive throwing experience in the discus, Hayes has his sighs set firmly on one goal from the moment he arrived at Cal Lutheran.

In his freshman season at Cal Lutheran back in 2009, Hayes competed in his first SCIAC championship meet, finishing 12th in the discus with a throw of 36.69 meters (120 feet, 4.50 inches), recording the highest finish in any of the four events he participated in that weekend.

The following season, Hayes advanced another five positions in the final standings, improving on his 2009 effort by another 7.5 meters (24 feet, 7.25 inches). Providing a glimpse of the progress Hayes made throughout the year, the newly-earned mark further motivated Hayes, serving as the mid-way point between where the skill set Hayes possessed at that time, and the overall goals that were now established within.

As a sophomore, Hayes increased his personal best by almost 20 feet; another 16 feet would complete his ultimate goal of possessing the farthest distance ever recorded by a Cal Lutheran thrower in the discus.

Knowing that a shot at the Cal Lutheran discus record of 48.83 meters (160 feet, 2 inches) set in 1986 by Torii Lehr was a realistic possibility leading up to this year's SCIAC Championships, Hayes was caught off-guard mere hours before he was scheduled to board the team bus last Friday.

"I received a phone call from my dad around 7:00 a.m.," described Hayes, "he asked me what I was doing. I responded ‘trying to sleep dad' and wanted to hear what he had to say. It was then when he informed me that my sister was going into labor."

Regardless of his decision, Hayes knew that a trip somewhere, either to Claremont for that weekend's meet, or to a hospital room in Sacramento was in his immediate future. It was then when the junior thrower made the gutsiest decision of his life.

"This is the SCIAC Championships, championships dad."

Hayes knew that the birth of his new nephew may take place during his track and field season as the original due date threatened to conflict with the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships scheduled to take place from May 26-28 in Delaware, Ohio.

He understood that the possibility of missing out on the birth of his nephew existed due to his current schedule of classes, an upcoming week of final exams, and a rigorous track and field schedule filled with three season-ending meets prior to the NCAA Championships.

Never in his wildest dreams, however, did he expect to make a decision of this magnitude at this time of the month. It would have not surprised Hayes if these events took place towards the latter weeks of May; receiving news like this, mere hours before he was expected make the trip to the campus of Pomona-Pitzer with his track teammates was an entirely different situation.

"I knew my dad was going to fly down to watch me compete," said Hayes "but I also wanted to let coach Matt (Lea) know about my sister going into labor earlier than expected."

"He initially spoke to me during our 10 a.m. team meeting," Lea stated, "and told me about his sister's situation. I was informed that his dad was going to fly down for the meet; originally he was planning on compete in the javelin on Saturday as well. I support my team, and want all of my teammates to be supportive of one another as well."

Earlier in the day, a decision was made; it was now up to Hayes and nobody else to take full advantage of the opportunity that presented itself.

"I wanted to record a strong throw from the very beginning and make everyone else chase me," explained Hayes, "instead of placing myself in a situation where I needed to chase someone else for the title."

In his inaugural throw of the weekend, in the first of two events Hayes was scheduled to participate in, the junior showed first-hand why the discus was his specialty as he recorded a distance of 49.19 meters (161 feet, 5 inches). Mere moments after entering the ring, Hayes virtually ended the title-winning hopes of every other competitor by recording new personal and Cal Lutheran record.

In front of his teammates, his friends, and his father, who arrived to the facility in time to watch his son enter the on-deck staging area prior to his record-setting throw, the magnitude of the day's events finally had caught up to him.

"When the tape measure passed 160 (meters), all I could think was... wow. I wanted to cry a little bit because there were a lot of emotions involved. To finally get that (distance) was pretty nice."

With one event already completed, and one individual championship already in his possession, Hayes, his Kingsmen teammates, and fellow competitors made the short walk from the discus ring to the hammer pit.

"I enjoy competing in the hammer throw because it is my second favorite event. Once my flight ended, I was waiting around to see how everyone in the second flight performed. That group was filled with a lot of big names, including my teammate Eric Flores, and just wanted to see who the top-nine throwers who earned a spot in the finals were."

One of the first competitors to compete in the hammer, Hayes' dad encouraged his son to enjoy the events that were unfolding in front of him, and made no qualms about the situation at hand.

"My dad looked at his watch, looked at me, and just told me that ‘if we are late, then we are late, but you have to throw'. That was it."

 At that point of the afternoon, Hayes had already taken off all the athletic tape that snaked around his fingers and hand, packed his shoes and equipment, and found a prime location behind the backstop to cheer on his teammate, and current SCIAC and Division III record holder Flores.

As surreal as the day had already been, Friday's story took another unforeseen twist for Hayes as he had to give up his spot to another fan in attendance - Hayes ended up earning one of the nine coveted spots in the final round.

Setting his second personal record of the afternoon, Hayes ended up throwing the 16-pound implement 44.89 meters (147 feet, 3.25 inches), capping off his most successful day ever recorded as a Kingsmen.

"It still has not fully hit me that I am the SCIAC champion, but I am ecstatic that I am now the school record holder. With everything that was going on around me, my mind was now on my sister because I am a family-oriented person."

Learning about his sister's condition during the short drive to Ontario International Airport with his father, Hayes was excited about the possibility of being at the hospital during the birth of his nephew. With Andrea still in labor, the decision Hayes made earlier that day had paid off in ways that he could not have imagined.

"My dad knew I was making the trip back home, no other family member knew about the results of the meet, or my appearance at the hospital."

Returning to the same Sacramento hospital where his other older sister Rachelle gave birth to her niece last year, in a room just four doors down from the one Andrea now occupied, everyone was shocked and excited to not only see Hayes, but hear of his success that took place mere hours prior to his arrival.

"I was hoping that she did not give birth to my nephew while I was competing, to see that everyone was ok once I arrived was quite a relief. My sisters are my best friends, and I was excited that I was able to make the trip in time."

It was not until 4:00 p.m. the following day when Andrea was able to give birth to the newest member of the family, a healthy baby boy that Hayes' himself was able to hold for a couple of hours before making the flight back to Thousand Oaks before classes resumed on Monday..

Within 36 hours, Hayes became a champion, and an uncle, setting two new personal records and once school record in the process. But at that moment in time, with all of his family now out of the room enjoying a break of their own, the only thing that mattered to Hayes was his sister Andrea and his nephew who was now resting peacefully against his chest, cradled in his arms.

As exciting as the events of last weekend were, Hayes has little time to rest and relax as there are still a number of track meets that remain on his schedule. Recording a NCAA provisional distance with his record-setting throw in the discus, Hayes can only compete in Ohio at the end of the month right now as an at-large participant.

Student athletes who record a distance of at least 52.72 meters (172 feet, 11.50 inches) automatically earn a spot at Nationals; those that fall short of that mark, but are able to throw 48.00 meters (157 feet, 5.75 inches) at a NCAA-sponsored event have the potential to complete as an at-large participant.

"As of right now I know I am literally on the bubble, most likely on the outskirts looking in. I am just praying that on top of my school work, and all the other things that are going on I can throw an additional seven feet. I know that deep down inside with a good wind, and a good effort, I can accomplish that."

Helping set a new school record in the 4x400-meter relay, Juarez and her teammates became the second relay team in Cal Lutheran history to break the four-minute barrier in the event. Running the anchor leg, Juarez helped break the 22 year-old school record as the quartet completed the race in a time of 3:57.09.

This performance took place only days after Juarez improved her personal best individual time in the 400 meter race at the SCIAC Championships. Crossing the finish line in 57.38 seconds, the time was just.08 seconds short of the NCAA Division III provisional qualifying mark for the national championship meet.

Juarez now holds the second-fastest 400 meter time ever recorded in the program’s history.

Winning an individual title in the discus at the SCIAC Championships just a few days prior to his arrival at Occidental, Adam Hayes improved upon his title-winning effort to set a new school record for the second time in eight days by recording a distance of 49.73 meters (163 feet, 2 inches).

With that performance, Hayes also enhanced his NCAA Division III provisional mark originally set at the SCIAC Championships, and is now ranked 18th in the nation.

This is the third time in the 2010-11 academic year that Cal Lutheran student-athletes earned both conference awards, the first occasion since Allison Kerr (Volleyball) and J.D. Austin (Football) completed the CLU sweep last September.

Recording provisional and automatic qualifying distances in the hammer throw (64.53 meters/211 feet, 8 inches) and shot put (17.51 meters/57 feet, 5.50 inches), Flores ended his final SCIAC Championship appearance by setting a new meet record.



Starting and finishing her day as a member of both Regals relay teams, Julea Juarez had quite a busy day, earning team points in all four of her finals heats.

Earning third place finishes with teammates Kendall Sauter, Amy Galipeau, and Jaleesa Robinson in the 4x100 meter relay, and Melissa Muntzel, Lauren Rohach, and Nicole Camarillo in the 4x400, Juarez also earned two second place finishes in both the 200 and 400 meters during the final day of competition in Claremont.

Throughout the weekend, two races captured the collective attentionof the crowd at Strehle Track. In the men's steeplechase, Pomona-Pitzer's Anders Crabo claimed the top spot by .06 seconds using a dive across the finish line to win the race. The other was the women's 200, a sprint that saw Juarez nearly earn Cal Lutheran's sixth individual title as she was beaten to the tape by only .005 seconds--the third-smallest margin of victory in any of the 20 combined men's and women's races that took place throughout the second day of the meet.

The schedule of events that Caius Radu faced during day two was just as demanding as the one faced by Juarez as the Kingsman sprinter earned a finals berth in five different events.

Finishing with the third fastest time in the 100 meters (10.89), Radu followed that efforts with a fifth place finish in the 200 (22.30) and recorded a 15.46 in the 110 meter hurdles. Combining efforts with teammates Jordan Williams, Cody Butcher, and Dennis Clay to earn valuable team points in the 4x100 meter relay, Radu capped his grueling two-day tenure at Pomona-Pitzer by running the second leg of the Kingsmen's 4x400 (3:24.89).

Jumping his way to another 10 team points for the Kingsmen, Eric Rogers followed his fifth place performance in the long jump (6.70 meters/21 feet, 11.75 inches) Friday afternoon with his efforts in the triple jump, a distance far enough to earn second place in addition to a provisional spot in the NCAA Championships.

Finishing with a total of 153 team points, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas claimed the SCIAC team title, Redlands and Cal Lutheran finished in second and third place with their respective totals of 107.50 and 103 points.

Rounding out the final standings for the women were Occidental (91.50 pts.), La Verne (63 pts.), Whittier (33 pts.), Pomona-Pitzer (21 pts.), and Caltech (17 pts.).

Earning 67 points throughout the event, Cal Lutheran finished in fourth place amongst the eight competing teams. Winners of the last 19 consecutive men's team titles, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (141 pts.) was forced to settle for a second place finish in this year's meet, falling nearly 26 points shy of Redland's first place total (166.66 pts.).

Finishing with 23 more points than the Kingsmen, La Verne captured third place with Occidental (61 pts.), Pomona-Pitzer (31.33 pts.), Whittier (12 pts.), and Caltech (10 pts.) comprising the bottom-half of the men's standings.

Earning 33 team points in their first day of action, the Kingsmen arrive at the half-way point of the meet in third place, trailing Redlands by only 1.66 points. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps currently occupy first place on the men's side with 47 points.

With the exception of the 3000 Meter Steeplechase, preliminary times were recorded for all other running events throughout the afternoon.

Capping off Friday's action, Regals distance runner Toccoa Kahovec led the steeplechase from start to finish, claiming her second consecutive individual title with her time of 10:57.05. Finishing nearly 20 second faster than the next competitor, Kahovec improved on last season's SCIAC championship-winning time of 11:06.00 by almost 10 seconds.

Other final events taking place on the campus of Pomona-Pitzer included a number of throwing events, competition dominated by Cal Lutheran names on both sides.

Led by Erica Carter's throw of 36.14 meters (118 feet, 7 inches), an effort that helped the senior capture third place, four Regals throwers finished in the top-ten in the Women's Discus. In addition to Carter, Tori Dahl (34.53m/113 feet, 3 inches), Britlyn Garrett (31.84m/104 feet, 5 inches), and Thea Cornell (31.53m/103 feet, 5 inches) finished in fourth, ninth, and 10th place respectively.

Jackie De la Paz and Aly Anderson earned second and third place individual titles in the Women's Hammer Throw, with Anderson beating La Verne's Bernadette Smith by two inches to help the Regals earn additional team points.

Anderson's throw of 42.60m (139 feet, 9 inches) was second only to De la Paz' 47.09m (154 feet, 6 inches) effort.

Erica Carter finished in sixth place in the event, recording a distance of 39.56m (129 feet, 9 inches), completing a CLU-dominated event that saw Regals claiming half of the top six spots.

Continuing an effort that began with their female counterparts, the Kingsmen also dominated both the discus and hammer throw events, frustrating many of the student-athletes participating from the other five SCIAC schools.

Earning first place in the discus with his recorded distance of 49.19m (161 feet, 5 inches), Adam Hayes not only claimed another Cal Lutheran individual championship, but recorded a new personal record that doubles as the farthest throw ever recorded by a Kingsmen in the event.

In all, four of the top seven finishers in the discus wore CLU violet and gold as Eric Flores (47.69m/156 feet, 5 inches), Peter Vermillion (44.72m/146 feet, 9 inches), and Roy Diaz (43.17m/141 feet, 8 inches) finished in second, sixth, and seventh place.

Flores became the final Kingsmen to earn an individual title, beating his title-clinching effort recorded last season by an additional .37 meters (1 foot, 2.50 inches). Winning the event with a throw of 64.53m (211 feet, 8 inches), the senior finished nearly twenty feet ahead of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Taylor Berliant who had to settle for second place with his throw of 59.03m (193 feet, 8 inches) which was more than 20 feet further than the third place distance recorded by one of his teammates.

The final day of competition at the SCIAC Track and Field Championships will begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. In all, 24 individual, four relay, and two team titles will be awarded throughout the day.