SPORTS

10 September 15, 2022 SPORTS Early race warms up pace

Cross country team starts the season in training shoes

STEPHEN DAY | VIEWPOINTS Water splashes on the face of Riverside City College David Rush to help cool him down during the Redlands Invitational where temperatures exceeded 100 degrees on Sept. 3 at Redlands University.

HAYDEN KULICK SPORTS EDITOR

The University of Redlands Invitational on Sept. 3 was used as a preseason warm up race for the Riverside City College men’s and women’s cross country teams.

RCC took this race as an opportunity to get ready for the bigger races later in the season as the coaches did not let them use any racing shoes, they were told to run in their training shoes.

At the start of both the women’s and the men’s races, no one went out fast for the Tigers.

However in the men’s race, Sophomore runner Gavin Condit moved up throughout the race and ended up placing 16th overall with a time of 19 minutes and 29 seconds. Condit was also the frst Tiger to cross the fnish line.

“My main goal is to keep the team together,” Condit said, “Our goal is to have around 20 seconds in between each other so I think we did a pretty good job at that.”

Sophomore runner Raen Reyes was not too far behind Condit as he placed 33rd with a time of 20 minutes and six seconds.

“We raced in trainers today so that was pretty tough,” Reyes said. “Your legs get more fatigued in the later parts of the race.”

The men’s team placed 4th overall.

During the women’s race, sophomore athlete Elani Huntley was leading for the Tigers early on but had to drop out of the race due to an injury.

Freshman Dakota Zamarripa was the frst Tiger to fnish with a time of 19 minutes and 47 seconds because of it.

“It was a good race,” she said. “I know I have plenty to work on but I’m glad I was able to compete in my frst collegiate race.”

Freshman runner Adeleni Pacheco was the 4th Tiger to cross the fnish line.

“I’m just excited that we are getting closer,” he said. “I’m excited to move up together as a team at the next meet.”

HAYDEN KULICK | VIEWPOINTS Editor: Hayden Kulick viewpoints.sports@gmail.com

Sports Briefs

Football

Riverside City College defeats Long Beach city College with a fnal score of 48-20 on Sept. 10. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff has received offers from the University of Hawaii, the University of Texas, El Paso and New Mexico State University.

Water Polo

In the men’s water polo game, Ottawa University defeated Riverside City College 14-7 on Sept. 10. The men’s water polo team is now 4-6 on the year. In the women’s game, Riverside City College crushes Citrus with a fnal score of 14-5 on Sept. 10. The women’s water polo team is now 3-1 on the year.

Cross Country

The men’s cross country team placed third at the Cal State San Bernardino Coyote challenge on Sept. 10. Gavin Condit placed third at the meet with a time of 25 minutes and 38 seconds. The women’s cross country team placed fourth at CSUSB Coyote Challenge on Sept. 10. Elani Huntley Placed 19th overall with a time of 20 minutes and fve seconds.

Volleyball

Riverside City College women’s volleyball beat San Bernardino Valley College with a fnal score of 3-0 on Sept. 9. Volleyball is now 2-3 on the year.

All of these dates are subject to change due to possible regulations to come involving the containment of the coronavirus.

To stay up to date on upcoming campus events, visit the Viewpoints calendar listed at viewpointsonline.org.

If you have events happening on campus that you want featured on the calendar, send information about the event to viewpoints.sports@gmail. com.

More than a tennis champion

Sports legend paves way for athletes, culture

PHOTO COURTESY OF LOVATTO | FLICKR

CARLOS PEREZ STAFF REPORTER

The US Open 2022 has just concluded and we were fortunate to see Serena Williams back in action for what was perhaps her last major tournament.

“I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” she said.

A ceremony was held on opening night of the tournament in her honor to celebrate her many accolades throughout her decades long career in tennis.

Williams has been breaking down barriers for women of color in the sport for over 27 years.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner has shattered records and more than made the case for gender pay equality.

She has inspired many young tennis players who are women of color such as Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff.

Williams was knocked out of the tournament in the third round in a three-set thriller to Ajla Tomljanovic.

Watching the ceremony and Williams in action after all of these years was great.

However, after watching many of the other games in the towurnament and witnessing Nick Kyrgios spit at his team with minimal consequence, I was reminded that only a few years ago we saw a major example of the inequalities of women of color in the sport.

Kyrgios was fined $7,500 for spitting and yelling audible obscenities.

This is the biggest fine of the tournament thus far, and while this may seem like a hefty fine, in 2018 after her US Open final against Osaka, Williams was fined $17,000.

“On Sunday, a day after the match, the tournament referee’s office docked Williams $10,000 for “verbal abuse” of chair umpire Carlos Ramos, $4,000 for being warned for coaching, and $3,000 for breaking her racket,” the Associated Press writes.

Yet, there are many instances of male players who berate the chair umpire without consequences. Most recently, Kyrgios smashed his racket on the court at his Sept. 4 match against Daniil Medvedev, more than once, and argued with the chair umpire without receiving any fines.

So why is it that men and women do not get punished equally for the same offense? Moreover, women get perceived differently when exhibiting the same behavior. Following Serena Williams’ 2018 US Open loss, The Herald Sun (Australian newspaper) made a caricature depicting Serena as an angry woman of color that went viral and was spread alongside hateful rhetoric that was quite prevalent under the administration of the time.

The cartoon displayed Serena Williams stomping on her racket in her 2018 US Open loss, with exaggerated features resembling the illustrations of the Jim Crow era. The illustration is an example of the way society can degrade women of color.

The illustration did spark backlash. “And it has set off an international storm of outrage, with athletes, fans and even J.K. Rowling denouncing the cartoon as sexist and racist,” per the New York Times.

Still, it requires more. It needs a call to action.

The retirement of Serena should be a reminder of not only her successful tennis career but of the great strides that she has made for women in sports and the reminder that we must continue to progress.

Before her, Billie Jean King advocated for women, equal gender pay, and LGBTQIA2+ rights.

Change comes with doing more than words. So, what can we do to level the playing field for all genders?

A good start would be to implement fairness across all aspects of the sport, including demanding equal consequences for inappropriate behavior.

Still, the superstar’s positive impact for women remains forever notable. The US Open retirement ceremony for Serena was joyous and filled with support and love.

It highlighted her legacy, barriers broken down for women of color, and her overall positive impact toward equality in the sport of tennis. MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS • Seven-time Australian Open singles champion • Four-time Australian Open doubles champion • Three-time French Open singles champion • Two-time French Open doubles champion • Seven-time Wimbledon singles champion • Six-time Wimbledon doubles champion • Six-time US Open singles champion • Two-time US Open doubles champion • One-time Olympic singles gold medalist (2012) • Three-time Olympic doubles champion • One-time Grand Slam Cup winner (1999) • Five-time Womens Tennis Association Finals winner • Career 84.6% winning percentage in singles (192-35) • Career 87.1% winning percentage in doubles (17-4)

Editor: Hayden Kulick | viewpoints.sports@gmail.com

Football rolls early

Brothers dominate community college competition

LEROY OROZCO STAFF REPORTER

After a heartbreaking loss in the state championship last season, the Riverside City College football team has offcially turned the page to this year. Led by Tom Craft, the team looks to take their season into December in hopes of getting back to the championship game.

That journey kicked off this past weekend with a 59-26 win as RCC toppled Mt. San Jacinto College.

The offense looks to once again be electric, but they’re led by a new transfer quarterback from Golden West College, Jake Retzlaff.

Retzlaff came to Riverside in hopes of helping this team bring another state title home, but he had a bit more incentive than just that. Catching his passes is Retzlaff’s brother, Reggie Retzlaff.

“We’ve been throwing together for five, six years,” Jake said. “So it’s defnitely different than throwing to any other guy on the team.”

Despite the Retzlaff brothers having a big night against MSJC, Jake managed to utilize his other key weapons on offense as he broke two RCC records. He broke the record for most passing touchdowns in a debut at six, and he shattered the single game passing yards record too.

Reggie was the star receiver of the game, totaling ten catches for 194 yards and two touchdowns.

“It was just trying to have more fun this year than anything,” Reggie said. “Just enjoying every second I can on the feld.”

Last season, Reggie was injured early in the season and had it cut short. However, entering this season, Reggie has big expectations for himself and the other talented receivers.

If RCC wants to get back to winning championships, the Retzlaff brothers will be a big part

PHOTOS BY STEPHEN DAY Riverside City College’s football team welcomes brothers Jake and Reggie Retzlaff to the feld this season.

RCC Jake Retzlaff, 11, sees an opening in the line, and decides to run the ball downfeld where he would get tackled at the 10 yard line.

Turnovers, defense lead to game two blowout

DALILA ROMERO STAFF REPORTER

The Riverside City College football team came out fring on all cylinders as they put up 24 points in the frst quarter as they took on Long Beach City College on Sept. 10.

Long Beach struggled to get its offense going, throwing two interceptions in the frst quarter, both to sophomore defensive back Demarco Moorer.

“It’s just a killer mentality,” Moorer said. “I see that stuff like that boosts the team so I just kept doing my thing.” The Tigers defense had a strong showing overall, holding the Vikings to 13 points until the end of the fourth quarter where they scored a garbage time touchdown.

“We just worked hard all practice,” sophomore linebacker Gage Summers said. “We studied our playbook and we executed pretty well today.”

The effects of playing all road games began to lurk, as the turf is made out of a different material.

“The feld is wood chips so it’s easier to get cut but besides that I wouldn’t really say it’s that much different than playing at home,” Summers said.

The Tigers offense also had a feld day, scoring 31 points in the frst half.

Starting Quarterback Jake Retzlaff backed up his record breaking performance against Mt. San Jacinto College with another strong performance against Long Beach.

Retzlaff threw fve touchdown passes, two of which to his brother Reggie Retzlaff.

“It’s just we’ve been throwing together for so long that I can’t remember so it’s just the little and small things that we understand with each other,” Jake said. “We’re always on the same page, we have a little telekinesis going on.”

The Tigers will play their next game at Saddleback College on Sept. 17.