Evan McDaniel placed seventh in the men’s discus throw for College of San Mateo’s top performance on the first day of the California Community College Athletic Association Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

McDaniel threw the discus 154 feet, 6 inches on his last attempt to score a pair of points for the Bulldogs. He threw 151-4 on his third try in the preliminaries to grab the last (ninth) spot in the finals. His best mark in this, his first season of collegiate competition, is 159-3.

Friday’s winner was Aaron Tombleson of Sacramento City College (171-4).

“I still have got to learn how to throw the discus,” McDaniel said after the competition.

He has only been throwing the college weights for five months.

“I’m going to take a month off of throwing after this meet and then I’ll have a year’s worth of technique work to get ready for next season,” McDaniel said.

He’ll be in the shot put finals on Saturday – where he ranks No. 2 in the nation at 55-10 1/4. Tombleson is the leader at 58-3 1/4.

CSM’s other first day competitor, Nikki Uikilifi failed to qualify for the finals in her first two women’s throwing events. Still competing with a sore shoulder, she finished tenth in the javelin (100-6) and twelfth in the discus (111-3). Uikilifi will be in the hammer throw and shot put on Saturday.