COD Women’s Cross Country finishes 26th at SoCal Finals

Full Results: https://www.directathletics.com/results/xc/10813.html#85326

COD concluded the 2016 season at Irvine Regional Park in Orange for the Southern California Cross Country Championships, where the team finished 26th overall on the 5k course.

The Roadrunners finished with 648 points, besting their nearest competition, Palomar College, by 36 points.

Just as impressive was the CCCAA State Finals qualifying finish for sophomore Viridiana Ciriaco (Indio H.S.) who bolted to an 83rd place finish with a time of 21:36.0, a full 1.4 seconds ahead of her nearest competition on the 5k course. 

Ciriaco's finish was 13.4 seconds faster than her previous best at the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Finals the week before and qualified her for an individual spot at the CCCAA State Finals in Fresno on November 19th.

Finishing a strong 128th place was freshman Ana Nieto (Palm Desert H.S.) who improved 16.1 seconds over last week's finish time, collecting a time of 23:35.6 and freshman Lena Saucedo (Wingate de Academy), who crossed the finish line at 24:10.0 was good enough for 135th place.

Freshman Maria Cruz-Cuevas (Salton City West Shore) wrapped up a 39th place finish with a time of 26:14.6 and freshman Vanessa Pedroza (Indio Shadow Hills) wrapped up the top five for Desert with a time of 26:51.0, finishing in 45th place.

Sophomore Kenia Lucero (La Quinta H.S.) wrapped up a 148th place finish, surpassing her previous best at last week's PCAC Finals by 2.6 seconds with a time of 25:13.9 and sophomore Manigee Javan (Cathedral City H.S.) wrapped up the top five for Desert, dropping an impressive 3:15 off of her finish at the PCAC Finals with a time of 25:26.7, finishing in 154th place.

Freshman Vanessa Pedroza (Indio Shadow Hills) and sophomore Kenia Lucero (La Quinta H.S.) finished 159th and 167th for the Roadrunners on the afternoon.

Information, Photos & Story provided by COD Sports Information.