SBCC Men's XC qualifies three for SoCal Championships

Jake Shroder was the top finisher for SBCC, completing the course in 24:11 to place 24th out of 86 runners in the Western State Conference Championships to qualify for the Southern California Championships in two weeks. Ytxzae Enriquez (24:20, 27th place) and Ethan Clark (25:36, 40th place) also qualified for the regional championships after running well at Cuesta College Friday.

"The men executed our strategy really well today on this challening Cuesta course," said Head Coach Scott Fickerson. "They remained patient early and then ran really tough when it mattered and moved into qualifying positions."

The race was won by Drake Nienow from Moorpark College with a time of 22:25 and Glendale College took the overall team title on the hot and windy day at Fairbanks Cross Country Course.

Mark Hernandez was the final runner for SBCC, finishing in 29:26, but falling short of qualifying for the SoCal Championships.

Shroder, Enriquez and Clark will compete for the Vaqueors on Nov. 8 in Mission Bay Park in San Diego. 

"They earned their spots to San Diego in two weeks and I am very proud of their efforts today," added Fickerson.

The SBCC women's cross country team also competed in the WSC Championships, but did not qualify any runners for the SoCal Championships. 

"The women ran the best the could today," said Fickerson. "They left it all out on the course."

Mckenzie Cooke, a freshman from Walnut Creek, was the top finisher for the women, completing the course in 28:34 to finish 55th. Emma Kopp (28:35), Linn Anderberg (29:41) and Ida Hamberg (33:12) also ran for SBCC.

Sophia Cortina from Moorpark College was the individual winner while Glendale College won the women's team title.