Lady Cougars Run Top Times, Place Sixth at Biola Invitational
By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director
LA MIRADA — College of the Canyons women's cross country made the most of a last-minute schedule change in running at the Biola University Invitational on Friday, placing sixth overall — and first among community colleges — in a field of primarily four-year programs.
Canyons had been scheduled to run in the annual 3C2A Southern California Preview hosted by Chaffey College, but saw that event postponed due to air quality issues caused by surrounding wildfires.
On a day in which all five scoring runners clocked season-best times, COC placed sixth in the field of 14 qualifying programs.
The Master's University (29) won the event followed by host Biola (38), University of San Diego (91), Point Loma Nazarene University (92), Vanguard University (148) and Canyons (191) across the top six spots.
COC was also the top community college program at the meet, finishing ahead of Riverside City College (8th/232), Fullerton College (11th/321), L.A. Mission College (12th/384) and Southwestern College (14th/405).
Canyons freshman, and current student-athlete of the week, Victoria Jamison was first to finish for the Cougars with a personal record time of 18:15.8. That placed her 21st in the field of 135 runners.
The duo of sophomore Katelyn Catu (59th/19:55.1) and freshman Giselle Ruiz (60th/19:57.6) completed the 5K course in near tandem to represent the next two scoring runners.
Next were freshmen Alyssa Arriaga (65th/20:05.6) and Lilianna Moreira (69th/20:19.7) with their own top times for the season to round out the five scoring runners.
Sophomores Emily Fairbanks (88th/21:38.6) and Emily Valdez (112th/23:16.5) also posted strong times for the Cougars but didn't count toward the COC team score.
Canyons has now finished, second, fourth and sixth, respectively, across its first three races to begin the 2024 season.
Up next, the Cougars will run at the Golden West Central Park Classic in Huntington Beach on Sept. 20.
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 X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.