Pirates qualify for State Meet with runner-up finish at SoCal Regionals
SANTA CLARITA -- The Orange Coast College men's cross country team officially punched its ticket for the CCCAA State Meet with a solid second-place performance at the Southern California Regional Championships, held on Friday at Central Park.
Coast finished with 88 team points, bettered by only San Bernardino Valley's 53 points. El Camino (121 points), Southwestern (155) and San Diego Mesa (160) round out the top-five.
The top finisher for the Pirates was standout freshman Jose Ortiz, who covered the four-mile course in a fifth-place time of 21 minutes, 5.8 seconds, trailing only SBVC's Omar Caro (20:44.2), Santa Barbara's Ian Roberts (20:55.6) and SBVC's Oscar Caro (21:03.3).
Coast's point-earners all cracked the top-50 in the event and they include Lucio Ramirez (7th, 21:08.1), Luis Morales (9th, 21:11.5), Conner Garcia (23rd, 21:44.3) and Jesus Valdez (44th, 22:02.2).
Other top times for the Pirates were turned in by Chris Harlan (22:31.1) and Cesar Galvez (22:37.4).
OCC's second-place finish top's last year's fifth-place showing as well as 2011's fourth-place score.
The Pirates will wrap up the 2013 season at the CCCAA State Meet, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Fresno's Woodward Park.
