OCC women finish sixth, men second at UCSD invitational

SAN DIEGO -- Taking on some of the top four-year programs in the area, the Orange Coast College men's and women's cross country teams headed down the coast for the UC San Diego Triton Cross Country Classic and the Pirates more than held their own.

On the women's side, Coast took on 21 other teams, including 19 four-year programs and finished sixth overall with 189 points. Loyola Marymount won the team event with 71 points, while San Diego State (95) placed second and UCSD (99) took third.

Leanne Allen was the top runner for the Pirates, finishing 24th overall with a 6K time of 23 minutes, 34.5 seconds. 

Close behind Allen were other OCC point-earners including Karen Silvas (29th, 23:28.3), Nisreen Rizk (36th, 23:48.1), Chelsea Clifford (54th, 24:08.7) and Raeanna Cortez (24:11.8).

Other top performances for the Pirate women include Carmilla Garcia (24:38.7), Maria Matias (24:58.4), Guagalupe Gomez (25:30.4), Rosa Gonzalez (25:42), Eunice Rodriguez (26:02.2), Allison Nagel (26:07), Nicole Barbour (26:10.9), Geneva Alvarez (27:57.1), Elizabeth Soriano (28:56.3) and Mackenzie Jackman (29:45.2).

On the men's side, OCC men used five top-25 times to place third in the 14-team field with 92 points, trailing only UCSD (25) and Loyola Marymount (85).

Sophomore Austin Little set a strong pace through the 8K course and finished in 15th place overall with a time of 26 minutes, 57 seconds, three seconds ahead of teammate Jay Bonthius, who placed 17th overall (27:00.5).

Close behind and earning points for the Pirates were Weston Hall (30th, 27:22.9), Jace Hinesly (32nd, 27:24.9) and Luis Morales (40th, 27:35.5).

Other top times for the Pirates were turned in by Barron Maizland (27:43.5), Felix Cruz (28:07.3), Kevin Russell (28:14.5), Jose Villegas (28:37.5), Hugo Flores (29:03.9), Bryce Shoppert (29:21.9), Adan Martinez (29:27.7), Cutberto Vazquez (29:41.6), Michael Guzman (29:48.6), Ian Scheidenberger (29:58.6), Guillermo Hernandez (30:10.3), Mathew Sommer (30:13.5), Ramin Attai (30:56.4), Juan Fuentes (31:08.2), Edwin Martinez (31:29), Alex Medina (32:10.3) and Jacob Manning (33:32.8).

For complete results from Saturday's races, click on the links below.

MEN'S RESULTS: http://www.flashwest.com/results/2012xc/12UCSD-m.htm

WOMEN'S RESULTS: http://www.flashwest.com/results/2012xc/12UCSD-w.htm