In conjunction with Raising Canes, the Cerritos College Athletic Department has agreed on a partnership to award a gift card to a male and female Athlete of the Week. Our first recipients are Luke Johnson of the Falcons track and field team and softball player Tatyana Cortez.

Luke Johnson - On Tuesday and Wednesday, Johnson competed in the Southern California Decathlon Championship and finished in first place. His 6199 points were more than the other 15 entries and automatically qualifies him for the 3C2A State Championships, which will take place May 16-17 at College of San Mateo. 

Trailing Riverside City College's Xavier Harvey by 12 points heading into the final event - the 1500 meters, Johnson posted a time of 4:49.73, which earned him 620 points, while Harvey only amassed 527 points for his time of 5:05.68. Johnson finished 81 points ahead of Harvey, who settled for second place. Johnson only recorded the best mark in one of the 10 events, which came in the javelin. His distance of 54.87 meters earned him 661 points, which was far and away better than his closest competition, while the high jump also earned Johnson 661 points when he cleared 1.84 meters. Earning a solid 726 points for his time of 51.98 in the 400 meters helped Johnson gain points in the final event of the first day. He sat in third place after the first five events with 3185 points.

Tatyana Cortez - The state leader in strikeouts, Cortez was the winner in four games for the Falcons last week. She posted shutouts against both Compton College and Pasadena City College (both 5-inning mercy wins), while she tossed another complete game in a win over defending state champion Fullerton College. Additionally, Cortez tossed the final 1 2/3 innings of a halted game against the Lancers before her complete game win.

Over the course of the week, Cortez, who is also second in the state with 18 wins, pitched 18 2/3 innings and allowed just three runs (1.61 ERA) on 14 hits and struck out 25 batters. She punched out nine batters against Pasadena City in the full game after striking out four of the six batters she faced in the halted game. Cortez also struck out seven against Compton and six against Fullerton, with four of them being the third out of an inning.