Canyons Starts Season at Ventura Invitational, Finn Finishes Seventh

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

VENTURA, Calif. — College of the Canyons sophomore Amanda Finn ran to a seventh-place individual finish at the Ventura College Invitational on Friday, as the Cougar cross country program officially kicked off the 2018 season.

Finn raced to a time of 23:46.3 on the 5K course at Arroyo Verde Park to finish seventh in the field of 54 entries. She averaged a mile pace of 7:39 and posted the third best time of runners in the Western State Conference (WSC).

Sophomore Samantha Bell also had a strong showing in the season-opener, running to a time of 25:18.5 to place 17th overall. Likewise, for freshman Graciela Torres who placed 29th overall with a mark of 27:09.2 in her first race for the Cougars.

Riverside College was the top women's team on the day, followed by host Ventura and third place Oxnard College. COC's women's squad entered only three runners for the event, and thus did not factor into the team scoring.

On the men's side it was sophomore Jacob Acosta who ran the four-mile course in 25:22, good for 30th in the field of 93, and the top time for Canyons.

Sebastian Holding (25:39.2) and Hunter Covarrubias (25:44.2) were just a few clicks behind Acosta in finishing 34th and 35th, respectively.

Edgar Aguilar-Lara (28:54.3) was 75th and Don-Miguel White-Carrington finished 76th to round out the scoring for a Canyons team that ended the day ranked ninth in the team standings.

Riverside won the men's race to sweep the event. The Tigers were followed by Oxnard College in second and West L.A. in third place.

The Cougars will next run at the Oxnard College Invitational on Friday, Sept. 7.

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