Canyons Cross Country Teams Qualify for SoCal Regionals

Story and photos by Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information 

MOORPARK — College of the Canyons left everything on the course at the Western State Conference (WSC) Championships on Friday, as both the men's and women's teams qualified to compete at the upcoming SoCal Championships.

The conference championship event was hosted by Moorpark College and featured every WSC program facing off for a chance to advance to the CCCAA Southern California Championships on Nov. 4 in Bakersfield. The top seven men's and women's squads from the WSC Championships event will move forward.

The COC women's team battled for the third place with a score of 89. Glendale College (50) won the event followed by runner up Bakersfield College (61).

Moorpark (91) was fourth followed by Oxnard College (109), Ventura College (130) and Antelope Valley College (153) in the final qualifying spot.

Canyons sophomore Milca Osorio crossed the finish line first for the Cougars with a time of 19:24.9, taking fifth place in a field of 54 runners.

Maylani Perez was the second Cougar to finish (21st/20:59.2), followed by a determined Joy Nakazawa (25th/22:11.4). Close behind Nakazawa the Cougars saw Emily Cruz (27th/22:30) and Trinity Winslow (28th/22:32.1) close out the race for COC.

On the men's side, competing against eleven other WSC teams and a field of 99 runners, the Cougars managed to finish seventh and snatch the final qualifying spot.

COC freshman Sam Regez led his team with a time of 21:28.1, good for 16th place.

Also scoring for the Cougars was Jerome Hughes (39th/23:06.8), followed by Nathan Guzman (44th/23:36.2), Cesar Tobar (46th/23:42.6), Elijah Dixon (55th/24:04.2).

Isaac Wilkinson (61st/24:12.4) and Fernando Osorio (84th/27:37.4) also ran for Canyons.

Moorpark claimed first-place with 44 points, barely edging out Bakersfield (45) in second place.

Glendale (70) came in third, followed by Ventura (96) in fourth and Santa Monica (127), Cuesta (170). Canyons (173) finished in seventh place.

With both teams qualifying, the Cougars will see its next course on Friday, Nov. 4 at the Kern Country Soccer Park in Bakersfield. The women's 5K race is set to begin at 10 a.m. with the men's four-mile event starting at 11 a.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.