Pirates show depth, rally for top-3 spot at State Meet

FRESNO -- Despite an injury to one of its top runners, the Orange Coast College men's cross country team ran an inspired race and finished third overall at Saturday's California Community College Athletic Association State Meet, held at Woodward Park.

Pirate sophomore Austin Little, who finished the Southern California Regional Meet as the team's top runner, injured his ankle and struggled to even finish the race, forcing the rest of the Coast team to pick up their pace, both individually and as a team. 

The Pirates were up to the task.

After a fifth-place showing two weeks ago at regionals, several PR times by the Pirates lifted them to third overall with 158 points, behind champion American River (98 points) and Glendale (96 points). Riverside (162) and San Bernardino Valley (167) round out the top-five.

"It was a surprise finish, especially with Austin getting hurt," OCC head coach Marco Ochoa said. "To see the guys really step and run the best race of the season for all of them was great to see. They were unaffected by the setback and pushed even harder to succeed, not only for themselves, but for Austin too."

Perhaps the biggest boost came from freshman Luis Morales, who, after placing 21st at the SoCal Regionals two weeks ago with a time of 20 minutes, 49.36 seconds, trimmed 30 seconds off of his time for a 4th-place finish and a time of 20:19.33, under cold, rainy conditions. His top-14 finish earned Morales a spot on the 2012 All-America team.

Sophomore Barron Maizland clocked in at 29th place with a time of 20:58.6, while teammate Jay Bonthius was close behind in 31st place with a 21:02.21. 

Jace Hinesly was 35th overall with a time of 21:09.11, while Felix Ruiz placed 63rd with a 21:31.12. 

Despite the ankle injury, Little fought through the pain and managed to inspire the team by finishing the 4-mile race. "He just didn't want to quit, even though he was hurting," Ochoa said of Little.