Cougars Cross Country Teams Both Run Top-Six at Mt. SAC Invite

College of the Canyons women's cross country group photo from event on Oct. 13, 2023.
Results
October 13, 2023

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director 

WALNUT — College of the Canyons ran at the annual Mt. San Antonio College Invitational on Friday, competing in its final race before the 'championship' portion of its schedule beginning next week.

COC's women's team finished sixth in the field of 11 schools from across the state. The Lady Cougars also ranked fifth among Southern California programs and third among Western State Conference (WSC) teams. 

Event host Mt. SAC (50) won the meet followed by Glendale College (68), Hartnell College (80), Oxnard College (121), El Camino College (122) and Canyons (145) across the top six spots. 

COC freshman Katelyn Catu was the top performer at a time of 20:04.5 to place 11th in the field of 114. Catu's time placed her fourth among WSC competitors. 

Kaiya Cortinas was next with a time of 21:57.3 on the three-mile course to finish 36th, with Emily Cruz not far behind that pace at 22:16.1, good for 40th overall.

Emily Fairbanks (69th/24:27.5) and Emily Valdez (73rd/25:09.1) rounded out the Canyons contingent. 

The Cougars' men's team finished the event in fifth place out of 15 schools at a score of 141. Mt. SAC (23) also won the men's race followed by Hartnell (79), Glendale (89) and El Camino (108) in the first four spots. That team result also placed Canyons as the second WSC school at the event. 

COC sophomore Sam Regez finished the four-mile course at 22:27, good for 23rd place.

Jack Eaton was next for the Cougars taking 36th in the field of more than 170 runners at a pace of 23:10.2. 

Cesar Tobar, who earned Student-Athlete of the Week honors for his performance at the WSC Preview on Sept. 29, finished Friday's event in 39th place at a time of 23:11.4. Nathaniel Wilkinson took 47th after being clocked at 23:41.9.

Jerome Hughes (81st/24:47.5), Fernando Osorio (87th/24:56.2), Elijah Dixon (89th/25:02.7) and Juan Jimenez-Rojas (117th/26:17) all ran the course for Canyons.

The Cougars will now run at the WSC Championships on Friday, Oct. 20 at L.A. Pierce College in Woodland Hills. The women's race is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. with men's action getting underway at 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 X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.