Heuchert is 4th in State Finals; Vaqueros post best finish ever

SBCC's Alex Heuchert finished fourth in the CCCAA State Men's Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

The sophomore from San Marcos High covered the 4-mile course in 20:20. His time was the fastest ever by a Vaquero on the Woodward course, which hosts the State Meet every year. Heuchert earned All-American honors.

The Vaqueros posted their highest finish ever, taking seventh out of 28 teams. Their time of 100 minutes, 47 seconds was the fastest by any SBCC team on the state course.

Ryan Sorenson was 28th in 20:58 and Bradley Apodaca, Martin Montes and Adam Grimmitt placed 59th, 61st and 63rd, respectively, in a field of 213 runners.

Canyons won the title with 79 points, followed by American River (86) and Orange Coast (157). The Vaqueros were seventh with 215 points. Diego Leon of Hartnell was the individual champion in 20:10. Heuchert finished just 10 seconds behind.

"What a great team effort," said coach Scott Fickerson. "We got into the top 10, which was our goal. Our team spread (time between 1st and 5th runners) was 1:19, which was the best of the year.

"This was a great way to finish a great season."

Complete results

State Championships
At Woodward Park, Fresno
 Team (28 schools) – 1, Canyons 79. 2, American River 86. 3, Orange Coast 157. 4, Mt. SAC 170. 5, San Bernardino 202. 6, Cuesta 202. 7, SBCC 215. 8, Hartnell 234.
 Individual (4 miles) – 1, Diego Leon, Hartnell, 20:10.
 SBCC results – 4, Alex Heuchert 20:20. 28, Ryan Sorenson 20:58. 59, Bradley Apodaca 21:39. 61, Martin Montes 21:37. 63, Adam Grimmitt 21:39. 89, Patrick Lownes-Santos 21:59. 190, Matt Wells 25:23.