Men’s relay team: A band of brothers

Meet the Citrus College men's relay team:  Adrian Rodriguez, James Stewart, Kriesus Williams, and Josh Tenerowicz.

Stewart, 21, has been running for four years, two of those at Citrus. After a year off from the track, he said he feels stronger and more confident than ever.

In the 2008 season with the Owls, he finished 13th in the 200-meter dash at the Western State Conference Finals and finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.69 at the WSC Finals, and 25th at the SoCal Prelims.

Since then, Stewart has also run the 4x4 and the 200-meter races.

"Running is inspiring and it's something that I love," Stewart said.

Rodriguez, 18, played baseball his whole life until he broke his arm one season during high school and then joined the track team. As a senior at Northview High School, he won the Valle Vista Championship in the 400-meter. He said he instantly fell in love with running. Since then, he has run the 4x4, 100- and the 200-meter races.

Williams, 21, who has been running since the sixth grade, said he has always loved it. At Covina High School, he prepped four varsity seasons and earned All-San Gabriel Valley,

All-CIF and first team All-Valley League honors. As a junior and senior, Williams won the 400-meter, and the 200-meter Relay Valle Vista League Championships.

"Jesse Owens is my hero," he said. Owens is the American track and field athlete who won four gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany.  

Tenerowicz, 18, has run only one race so far, but he has already played a big role on the Citrus relay team.

At Charter Oak High School, he participated in three varsity seasons and was also on the varsity football and soccer teams. Tenerowicz also throws on the javelin.

Williams finished second and Rodriguez finished fourth in the 400 dash on March 21.   
Members of the relay team said they have what some teams lack: brotherhood. The four members of the men's relay are close on and off campus. They respect each other.

"Most teams call each other a family. A team is stronger than a family. When one cries, everyone cries. When one wins, we all do," Williams said.

"These guys help me and make sure I don't slack off," Tenerowicz said. 

 "When we first came we would put each other down. Now we help each other out on and off the track," Stewart said.

"Winning state would mean the world to me," Rodriguez.
Stewart added, "I will cry."

The men's track and field season started off  strong at the Pomona-Pitzer College All-Comers as they posted nine top-10 finishes. During their second meet the men's relay team finished fourth in the 800-meter Spring Medley Relay.

Most recently during the Easter relays, hosted by Santa Barbara, three men and four women finished in the top two-thirds of their events.

The men's relay team is set to compete Saturday, April 3, at the Antelope Valley College Invitational during an all-day event.