Canyons Men's Cross Country Claims Third Straight Conference Crown

It was another great day for the College of the Canyons cross country program!

With the Cougars competing at the WSC Finals held at Legg Lake in Whittier last Friday, the COC men's team won its third consecutive Western State Conference (WSC) title, while sophomore Ethan Walker placed second individually.

In fact, all five of COC's runners finished among the top 10 at the event.

Walker's time of 19:37.2 on the four-mile course led the way for Canyons.

However, the strong times turned in by freshman Alejandro Bernal (fourth place/19:58.4), sophomore Jason Hillquist (fifth place/20:06.7), freshman Nick Liebmann (sixth place/20:11.2) and sophomore Arnold Bautista (seventh place/20:12.3) helped the Cougars bring home another WSC title.

COC's team score of 22 points easily outpaced second place Glendale College (56 points) and third place Cuesta College (121).

On the women's side, Canyons took second place, while freshman Jessica Ruiz also placed second individually with a mark of 18:16.9 on the 5K course.

COC's team score of 38 trailed only Glendale College (19), while ranking far ahead of third place Citrus College (126). 

COC sophomore Alexandra Whitman took seventh with a time of 18:54.3, while sophomores Amanda De Jesus (19:04.4) and Lizeth Flores (19:10.5) finishing in eighth and ninth respectively.

Canyons freshman Chelsea Wells took 12th place with a time of 19:22.8 to round out the Cougars' top five finishers.

COC will next compete in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Championships being held Friday, Nov. 6, at Mission Bay Park in San Diego.