The Glendale College sports teams had a tremendous finish to the 2009 fall season.
In cross country, the women finished first in the State Championships, their second state title in three years, while the men finished strong in third place.
Francisco Quijada and Nina Moore were named the Western State Conference athletes of the year. Both Moore and Quijada won the WSC individual titles this year as they led their men’s and women’s teams to conference championships.
Moore led the women’s team to the Southern California and the State Championships and won both her individual races.
“This has been one of the best years, probably the best year we’ve had as a team,” assistant coach David Rodriquez said. “One thing I can say about these ladies is they work together as a team everyday . I’ve never seen a team train as hard as they trained.”
Other Lady Vaqs that were chosen for the WSC first team included Karen Rosas, Brianne Jauregui, Rosa Del Toro, Angelina Gonzalez, Jessica Wences, Vivian Ochoa and Caitlin Kelly. Second-team runners included Kristine Keneich and Diana Sanchez.
Quijada led the Vaqs in the WSC first team, and three others followed, including Rico Gutierrez, Jonathan Alpizar and Francis Herrera. Second-team runners included Ricky Avila, Jesus Gutierrez and Miguel Flores. Honorable mention recipients were Max Maier and Neil Jones.
Moore, Del Toro, Rosas and Ochoa all earned the first team All-America Honors. Jauregui and Wences were named to the third team, and Gonzalez was named fourth team.
First-team All-American was Quijada and Alpizar was named to the fourth team.
The Lady Vaqs volleyball team had 12-10 record in season, and 8-4 in Western State Conference.
Ashleigh Diller was the leading individual attempts and kill player with 343 attempts and 122 kills. Diller also had 32 aces, 16 solo blocks, and 30 block assists. Following Diller, was Carissa Mathijssen with 337 attempts and 86 kills. Jessica Alvarez was the kills leader with 184.
Six players earned the All Western State Conference. First team honorees included Alvarez and Diller. Mathijssen and Alyssa Rosca earned second team. Honorable mention awards went to Ashliy Veliz and Roxie Domines.
The men’s soccer team had some struggles, but managed to win some games. They were 5-14-2 in season, and 3-10-1 in conference.
Paco Bustillos led the team with six goals and 12 points. Jason Acosta had three goals and six points. Geoff Pogue had six goalie saves.
The Lady Vaqs soccer team had its fair share of struggles as well in season. The team was 6-8-6 in season and 4-6-4 in conference with 16 points.
“We were hoping to get into the playoffs,” said head Coach Jorge Mena. “That was our main goal.” Mena said the team gave their best effort but missed the playoffs because it lost too many games 1-0. “I would’ve loved to see them go to the playoffs because they deserved it,” he said. “They played so hard.”
