Dowell Leads Cougars To Top-10 Finish At State Championship
The College of the Canyons men’s and women’s cross country teams participated in the California Community College Cross Country State Championships on Saturday morning at Woodward Park in Fresno, with both squads finishing among the top-10 schools and COC freshman runner Dominique Dowell earning Junior College All-American honors.
FRESNO, Calif. - The College of the Canyons men's and women's cross country teams participated in the California Community College Cross Country State Championships on Saturday morning at Woodward Park in Fresno, with both squads finishing among the top-10 schools and COC freshman runner Dominique Dowell earning Junior College All-American honors.
The women's team finished the race with a total score of 268, edging out the competition from San Diego Mesa and Moorpark College to finish in eighth place, but falling short of eventual state champions Orange Coast College.
Canyons was led by Dowell's season-best time of 18:47.71, which was good enough for 12th place among the field of more than 200 runners - and was the fastest time ever posted by a COC freshman on a state course. The race also marked the first time this season that Dowell broke the 18-minute mark.
COC freshman Nicole Casillas finished in 56th place with a time of 19:41.39, with freshman Diana Barrera finishing right behind her teammate in 58th place with a time of 19:43.73.
Rounding out the Canyons team were freshman Yesenia Razo's time of 20:04.93 (84th place), freshman Amanda Meredith's mark of 20:08.33 (87th place), sophomore Kasey Cass' time of 20:33.66 (121st place) and freshman Amy Vargas who finished at 22:55.39 (196th).
On the men's side, Canyons totaled 295 points to finish the meet tied in ninth place with Hartnell College, despite competing with just six runners. American River College finished with 72 points to take home the state championship.
COC was led by freshman graduate Rodrigo Ornelas' time of 21:03.15, ranking him 24th in the field. His efforts were followed by freshman Alex Johnson's time of 21:34.46 (63rd place), freshman Anthony Janaslani's pace of 21:35.72 (64th place) and sophomore Chase Wheeler's mark of 21:38.19 (68th place).
Canyons freshman Joel Estrada finished with a time of 21:49.68 (89th place) and sophomore Tony Garcia crossed the line at 23:00.91 (154th place).
