Cougars Have Strong Showing Against Four-Year Schools at Mustang Challenge

In a meet that featured four-year programs, the College of the Canyons cross country teams fared well with the men placing fifth and the women 10th at The Master’s College’s Mustang Challenge on Saturday morning.

Cougars Have Strong Showing Against Four-Year Schools at Mustang Challenge
September 21, 2013

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - In a meet that featured four-year programs, the College of the Canyons cross country teams fared well with the men placing fifth and the women 10th at The Master's College's Mustang Challenge on Saturday morning.

The men scored 144 points to just miss fourth place, one point behind fourth-place finisher Westmont. California State University, San Marcos, won the race with 55 points, followed by Glendale College with 86 and The Master's College with 87 points.

On the women's side, Canyons scored 256 points. California State University, San Marcos, won the race with 31 points and The Master's College came in second with 60 points. Glendale College came in fifth with 179 points and LA Trade Tech beat COC by 44 points with a 212.

The Cougar men's team was led by a duo of freshman, Rodrigo Ornelas and Robert Pion. Ornelas placed 11th with an 8k time of 25:33.90, while Pion was a few seconds back, placing 15th in 25:43.49.

Freshman Alex Johnson finished in 51st place, clocking a time of 26.55.72, while sophomore Chase Wheeler turned in a 27:06.24 for 59th place. Freshmen Anthony Janaslani and Lyvan Friend came in close together with times of 27:19.68 and 27:24.02, respectively, for 70th and 74th place.

Sophomore Tony Garcia rounded out the Cougar scoring with a 27:50.75, good for 90th place.

The women were paced by freshman Dominique Dowell who finished in 40th place, running the 5k race in 19:36.19. Not far behind her, freshman Diana Barrera came in a little more than 20 seconds later in 53rd place in a time of 19:58.34.

Freshman Yesenia Razo turned in a 61st-place performance with her time of 20:15.22, followed by freshman Nicole Casillas who crossed the finish line in 20:30.24, good for 68th place.

The Cougar's freshman Amanda Meredith turned in an 82nd-place finish with her time of 21:01.34 and sophomore Kasey Cass came in 87th in a time of 21:09.25.

Rounding out the team's scoring was freshman Stephanie Marine with her time of 21:52.27.

Canyons will return to action on Friday, Sept. 27 as they travel to the Bakersfield Invite.