|
Cross Country: REED WINS INDIVIDUAL STATE TITLE!
|
Sunday, November 18, 2007
|
|
|
| |
FRESNO -- Even though the Orange Coast College women's cross country team saw its streak of consecutive state team titles come to an end, freshman standout Crystal Reed didn't leave Fresno empty-handed.
Reed jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as she captured the individual state title with an impressive winning time of 17 minutes, 32 seconds, clearing the rest of the field by 29 seconds at Woodward Park on Saturday.
Glendale College snapped OCC's run of six straight state championships by topping the Pirates with 42 points, thanks to five top-15 finishes. The Pirates finished second with 95 points, while El Camino placed third with 153 points.
"Crystal ran a great, great race today," OCC head coach Marco Ochoa said. "She got out in front early and was never threatened. She stayed within her pace and ran her race. It was great to see. As a team, you've got to tip your hat to Glendale. They have a great team over there."
Other top times for the Pirates include Cassie Mitchell (7th, 18:51), Ariana Espinoza (28th, 19:33), Joanna Abarca (38th, 19:48), Claire Fleming (52nd, 20:09), Senayt Asrat (58th, 20:20) and Jillian Lopez (87th, 20:55).
On the men's side, a solid team effort propelled the Pirates to an ninth-place finish with a team score of 271, topping all other teams in the Orange Empire Conference along the way. San Bernardino Valley (90), San Diego Mesa (102) and Mt. San Antonio (139) round out the top three team finishes.
The Pirates were led once again by sophomore Brandon Babiracki, who finished the four-mile course with a fifth-place time of 20:38. Rounding out the OCC times include Nathaniel Mouzis (56th, 21:53), Preston Switzer (59th, 21:57), Chris Ponce (75th, 22:10), Sean Connor (76th, 22:10), Cooper Meacham (85th, 22:23) and Jorge Torres (96th, 22:31).
|
|