Pirates take seventh at GWC invitational
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Under warm, sunny Friday afternoon, the Orange Coast College men's cross country team finished seventh overall at the 2014 Golden West College Invitational.
Led by the strong performance of sophomore Lucio Ramirez, the Pirates finished with a team score of 200 points.
Ramirez, a Santiago High School grad, took on the 21-team field and finished the four-mile course in second place with a time of 20 minutes, 11.1 seconds. Only College of the Canyons' Rodrigo Ornelas topped the Pirate standout, winning the race with a 20:05.9.
A pair of other Pirate runners -- Eamon Smythe and Jorge Jeronimo -- cracked the top-40 with Smythe finishing 29th with a 21:10.8 and Jeronimo placing 36th with a 21:22.
Other solid OCC times were turned in by Efrain Vargas (21:49.4), Ryan Ogan (22:08.7), Daniel Vargas (22:27.6), Gonzalo Vazquez (22:28.5), Dakota Gamble (23:02), Yadir Perez (23:09.9), Cameron Smith-Ray (23:51.5), Hunter Durand (23:59.5).
On the women's side, four Pirate runners took to the 5K GWC course and all four performed well. Those OCC times included Nisreen Rizk (20:48.4), Bianca Romero (21:12.2), Lydia Roth (23:33.6) and Alicia Carbajal (25:13.5).
Coast will brave the heat once again this weekend at the Foothill Invitational, which will take place at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino, beginning at 9 a.m.
