COC Cross Country Wins Mt. SAC Sweepstakes

The COC cross country teams achieved a school first at last Friday's Mt. SAC Invite, as the Cougars won the event's 'combined sweepstakes' title as the program with the best men's and women's overall performance.

The COC men's and women's combined team time of 200:23 topped both Mt. SAC (201:22) and Glendale (204:05) for the sweepstakes title.

On the men's side COC (32 points) outpaced second-place finisher Mt. SAC (89 points) with a combined team time of 105.33. That mark was also good enough to rank as the second best team finish in event history, since the course was altered in 2000.

Rodrigo Ornelas finished in second place with a time of 20:46.2 to lead the Cougars, while Grant Stromberg took third place with a time of 20:53. Jason Hillquist finished fifth with a mark of 21:04. Robert Pion (21:15) and Ashton Garcia (21:34) rounded out the Cougars' top five.

The women's team finished in third place with a team time of 94:50. Freshman Shalyn Mabritto turned in a time of 18:12 to take fifth place at the event. Sophomore Dominique Dowell finished in 12th with a time of 18:49, and Amanda DeJesus crossed the finish line at 19:00 to finish in 15th place.

The men's cross country team is currently ranked No. 1 in the state, while the women are ranked No. 2.

Canyons will next participate in the Western State Conference (WSC) Finals on Friday, Oct. 24, at Ventura College.