SBVC Wins 8th Consecutive SoCal Title
SBVC looks to get back into the winners circle at the State Finals with their last championship happening in 2010, winning five straight titles from 2005 to 2010. Fresno City College will again host the CCCAA State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on November 23.
Co-head coach Wes Ashford commented, "American River is the favorite, they are back-to-back defending state champs, that puts a target on their back." Ashford said that he wants to see a better performance at state then what was shown at the Southern California finals, "We will need to run with more focus to win this year, running as a group and staying together, encouraging one another, when they do those things this team tends to run better that way.
The team won their eighth consecutive Southern California championship in dominating fashion at Central Park in Santa Clarita. The top individual finisher for SBVC placed 1st, freshman Omar Caro (Riverside Norte Vista) with a time of 20:44.2.
SBVC grabbed 53 points at this event, finishing 35 points ahead of second place Orange Coast and 737 points ahead of their nearest Foothill Conference opponent. The next highest finisher for SBVC was Omar's brother, freshman Oscar Caro (Riverside Norte Vista) placing 4th with a time of 21:03.3 and placing 8th was sophomore Francisco Gomez (Fontana H.S.) with a time of 21:11.0.
Finishing 18th was freshman Jon Dileva (Rancho Cucamonga H.S.) with a time of 21:27.6 and freshman Douglas Palmer (Beaumont H.S.) placed 22nd with a time of 21:41.8. In 30th place was freshman Justin Doyle (San Bernardino Cajon) with a time of 21:55.9 and sophomore Chris Hyden (Menifee Paloma Valley) wrapped up the SBVC finishers with a time of 22:02.4, placing 35th.
The SBVC Men's Cross Country team also won their 18th straight Foothill Conference title in dominating fashion at Lake Cahuilla Park in La Quinta on October 26th. SBVC captured the top nine places recording a perfect score of 15 points. Omar Caro led wire to wire to complete the four mile course in 18:24. Gomez followed 25 seconds later in 18:49 and Palmer took third at 19:15.
Hyden finished with a time of 19:26, freshman Anamacio Cardenas (Bloomington H.S.) 19:39, freshman Brandon Chavez (Indio H.S.) 20:28, freshman Robert Blanco (San Bernardino San Gorgornio) 20:32, sophomore Christian Garcia (San Bernardino Pacific) 20:36 and sophomore Dennis Cruz (Riverside La Sierra) 20:55 helped SBVC sweep the top nine places.