Ramirez, Vaqueros take fifth in WSC Preview

SBCC freshman Alex Ramirez took fifth in the WSC Preview men's cross country race on Friday at Oxnard College.

Ramirez was clocked in 20:44 on the 4-mile course. Bradley Apodaca was 18th and Adam Grimmitt 22nd for the Vaqueros, who finished fifth in the 12-team field. Sam Boyle of Ventura was the individual champion, topping 123 runners with a time of 20:18.

Canyons was the team champion, edging Glendale by a point, 41-42.

"Alex had a breakthrough race," said SBCC coach Scott Fickerson. "He moved his way steadily up through the field to get in the top five. This will give him a lot of confidence in upcoming races that he belongs among the front pack.

"Our top  three raced really well today. Our next four have some work ahead of them to close the gap on them to get our points down. We can be a top-3 team in conference, but it will take a full team effort. I look forward to seeing us do just that in three weeks."

The Vaqueros will host the SBCC Invitational on Friday at Shoreline Park and Leadbetter Beach with the men starting at 4 p.m. The start is on the sand at Leadbetter Beach. The best spectator viewing is at the top of Shoreline Park near La Marina Drive.

WSC Preview
At Oxnard College
 Team (12 schools) – 1, Canyons 41. 2, Glendale 42. 3, Cuesta 120. 5, SBCC 146.
 Individual (123 runners) – 1, Sam Boyle, Ventura, 20:18. 2, Vahagn Isayan, Glendale, 20:28.
 SBCC results – 5, Alex Ramirez 20:44. 18, Bradley Apodaca 21:11. 22, Adam Grimmitt 21:18. 60, Gustavo Bello 22:29. 61, Cesar Rodriguez 22:29. 66, Jacob Ogawa 22:35. 70, Matt Wells 22:45. 94, Arnulfo Basave 23:51. 108, Lennie Nelson 24:55. 114, Yann LeMaitre 26:12. 116, Timothy Lyles 27:05. 118, Alejandro Martinez 27:33.