Glendale College women’s cross country team literally ran away from the competition Friday to win its fourth consecutive Southern California Championship at Mt. San Antonio College.
The Lady Vaqs won handily with 38 points and were paced individually by meet winner Nina Moore.
The defending state champions from Orange Coast College were a distant second with 87 points and Mt. SAC was third with 125.
In the men’s race, Glendale finished third with 140 points, behind meet winner San Bernardino with 56 points and second-place Orange Coast with 134.
Both teams qualified for the state championships in Fresno Saturday, Nov. 21. The women’s team last won the state championship in 2007 and finished second in 2008.
“The performance Friday for the women is another reason why this team should go down in history as the best ever at Glendale College,” said head Coach Eddie Lopez. “To have seven female runners finish in the top 21 and break the course team and individual records for the second time this season speaks for itself.
“They are a confident group that keeps working hard day after day and they are peaking at the right time. And this has nothing to do with losing the state meet by just two points (42-44) last year.”
That team ran to its potential and this group has one more race to see if they can reach the goal that they have been working toward since last summer.
“The men also have a great chance to bring home a trophy if they run well in Fresno,” Lopez said.”
Moore, a freshman from Saugus, set a course record in winning the 3.1 mile race in 17 minutes, 17 seconds. Brianna Jauregui finished third overall in 18:04, Rosa Del Toro was fifth in 18:17, Karen Rosas was 11th in 18:29, Angelina Gonzalez was 18th in 18:57, Jessica Wences was 19th in 19:04 and Vivian Ochoa was 22nd 19:15.
For the men, Francisco Quijada was the top Glendale finisher over the four-mile course in 20:58 Jonathan Alpizar was 21st in 21:28, Rico Gutierrez was 26th in 21:37, Matan Mayer was 41stt in 21:57, Ricky Avilla was 47th in 22:03, Jesus Gutierrez was 67th in 22:37 and Francis Herrera was 136th in 23:36.