Pirates place ninth overall at State Meet
FRESNO -- The Orange Coast College men's cross country team wrapped up a very impressive 2021 season with a ninth-place team finish at this year's California Community College Athletic Association Men's Cross Country State Meet, held on Saturday at Fresno's Woodward Park.
Led by a top-50 finish from freshman standout Kade Franco, the Pirates earned a top-10 team score of 301, trailing only San Diego Mesa (50), Mt. San Antonio (66), Hartnell (91), Riverside (93), American River (168), Glendale (249), Cuyamaca (288) and Moorpark (288). Wrapping up the top-10 was fellow Orange Empire Conference foe, Saddleback, with 333.
Franco went up against the best of the best in the state and finished 47th overall with a four-mile time of 21 minutes, 14.16 seconds, edging out Golden West's Andrew Lugo (21:15.2) at the finish line.
The Pirate trio of August Garcia, Cole Ridenour and Danovish Molina Jr. kept their pace together throughout the race and finished neck and neck to the wire. Garcia finished 69th with a time of 21:37.2, followed by Ridenour (21:37.9) and Molina (21:38.9). OCC's final point-earner, freshman Erik Galindo, placed 90th with a time of 21:58.6.
Other top OCC times included freshmen Hector Espana (22:13.9) and Viencent Luong-Kha (22:47.8).
On the women's side, OCC's lone runner, Jacqueline Rodriguez earned her trip to Fresno with a solid performance at the Southern California Regionals and she wrapped up 2021 with a top-40 time at the State Meet. The Pirate freshman conquered the 5K course with a time of 19:46.2, good enough for 31st place.
