Cougar Cross Country Sees Four From Men's Team Place Top-25

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons turned in a solid performance at last week's Bakersfield College Invitational, with the men's team seeing four runners post top-25 times, while the women's squad was led by sophomore Amanda Finn's fifth place finish.

The Lady Cougars placed fourth overall in the team standings but were third among the community college programs that entered the event. Mount Mercy University (33) won the event followed by Ventura College (53), host Bakersfield (84), Canyons (96) and Clovis College (108).

Finn clocked a time of 21:02 on the 5K course at Kern County Soccer Park to continue her strong season. That mark fourth among community college entries. 

Samantha Bell was next to cross the finish line at a pace of 22:44 for 13th place.

Celeste Gonzalez (24:30/19th), Graciela Torres (26:36/30th) and Abigail Ornelas (30:16/40th) all scored for Canyons.

Canyons freshman Sebastian Holding posted the top time for the men's team at 23:55 to finish 14th overall. That result was also the ninth fastest among community college runners. 

Brannon Barber posted a 19th place time of 24:29 and Edgar Aguilar-Lara was 22nd at 24:52. Donmiguel Carrington-White was 25th overall with a time of 25:30 on the four-mile men's course. Hunter Covarrubias also scored for the Cougars in 36th place at 27:12.

COC (112) was fifth in the team standings, trailing Ventura (93), Bakersfield (87), Clovis (43) and event winner Mount Mercy (22).

Canyons will next compete at the Western State Conference (WSC) Preview hosted by Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. First race is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Lindie Kane/COC Sports Information