Canyons Cross Country Teams Appear in 5CTCA State, Regional Rankings

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons men's and women's cross country teams both appear in the latest California Community College Cross Country and Track & Field Coaches Association (5CTCA) state and regional rankings ahead of this weekend's Western State Conference (WSC) Championship meet. 

The Lady Cougars team is ranked No. 13 in the state according to the most recent poll released Oct. 16. The COC women's side is also the No. 11 team in Southern California. Those positions also place Canyons as the No. 4 WSC team appearing in the polls.

COC placed fourth at the WSC Preview meet on Sept. 29 with Katelyn Catu finishing the race in seventh place to lead the way. The freshman from Golden Valley High School has been the top runner for Canyons this season, placing top-10 in four of five community college events, including an eight-place finish at the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) Southern California Preview on Sept. 15.

At last week's Mt. San Antonio College Invitational, the Lady Cougars finished sixth in the field of 11 schools from across the state. Catu was 11th while Kaiya Cortinas (36th/21:57.3) and Emily Cruz (40th/22:16.1) combined for the top-three times for Canyons.

The Cougars' men's team appeared as the No. 14 team in this week's 5CTCA coaches poll. That placement also sees Canyons as the fifth team in the WSC.

COC has placed fifth in the team results for its last two meets, first at the WSC Preview in Oxnard then the Mt. SAC Invitational a week ago. Canyons also took 10th at the 3C2A Southern California Preview with sophomore Sam Regez finishing 25th in the field of 263 to finish the four-mile course at 20:46.9.

Regez has been the leader for the men's team with a pair of top-25 results and a season-best sixth-place finish in the season-opening Moorpark College Invitational. The sophomore from Canyon High School did not compete at last month's WSC Preview. 

Instead, it was sophomore Cesar Tobar leading the way for COC with a run of 21:24.2 to finish 17th. Tobar, sophomore Jerome Hughes (21st/21:53.6) and freshman Nathaniel Wilkinson (24th/22:06) served as the top three runners for Canyons at the meet.

Both Cougars squads will now run at the WSC Championships hosted by L.A. Pierce College in Woodland Hills beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 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.