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Cross Country: Pirates blaze through OEC competition
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
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HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The traditions continue for the Orange Coast College men's and women's cross country programs as they, once again, take home the top prize in both races at the 2009 Orange Empire Conference Championships, held at Huntington Beach's Central Park.
On the women's side, the Pirates notched their 13th straight OEC title and 23rd overall with a near-perfect score of 18 points, while the OCC men picked up their 13th overall conference crown and seventh in the past eight years with a team score of 26 points.
Sophomore Kimone Hewitt's winning 5K time of 18 minutes, 31.4 seconds highlighted a 1-2-3-5-7 finish for the Pirates. Teammates Jane Kerner (18:39.9) and Margaret McDuffee (18:48.5) also cleared the 19-minute mark, while Hillary Labelle (fifth, 19:02.3) and Andrea Guerra (seventh, 19:17.2) also scored for Coast. In fact, seven of the top nine finishers, including freshmen Sara Toberty (eighth, 19:17.2) and Andrea Gayton-Jacob (ninth, 19:28.5) cracked the top-nine overall.
Janina Emery (13th, 20:06.3), Sonya Ercout (17th, 20:34.2) and Misha Hulka (18th, 20:36.7) added to the dominance of the Pirates as 10 runners finished in the top-18.
On the men's side, nine OCC runners cracked the top-20, led by OEC runner-up Russell Westphal, who finished the four-mile course with a time of 20:30.6. Close behind were point-earners Jake Dawson (third, 20:39.9), Eric Dyson (fourth, 20:47), Sergio Olivarrias (eighth, 21:07.3) and Jorge Torres (ninth, 21:07.9).
Other top-20 performances for Coast include Francisco Baquero (10th, 21:10.9), Michael Taylor (13th, 21:25.9), Pedro Saucedo (17th, 21:40.4) and Raul Torres (18th, 21:43.4).
The Pirates will advance to next week's Southern California Regionals, set for Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College, beginning at 9 a.m.
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