Canyons Men Win WSC Championship

OXNARD >> A pair of impressive Glendale Community College cross country streaks were halted Thursday at the Western State Conference final at Oxnard College, but they came to an end in different ways.

Moorpark's Rachel Naumann ran away from the field, including Glendale's Lizzy Nelson, to snap the Vaqueros' three-year stretch of crowning women's individual champions.

College of the Canyons then ran down the Glendale men's team during a thrilling final mile to produce a 43-49 victory, securing its first conference title since 2007 and bookending five consecutive championships for the Vaqueros.

"It was me, then Glendale, then I saw Robert (Pion) and then Glendale, and then our three guys and only one of theirs, and I was like. 'We did it. We won!' I couldn't believe it," said COC's Rodrigo Ornelas, who placed second in the 4-mile race in 20 minutes, 40.45 seconds, trailing Santa Barbara City College's Ian Roberts (20:32.34).

"I'm much happier that we won as a team because it took everybody to do it. Even if I had won individually, I couldn't be happier that we aaccomplished this together because we worked so hard to make this happen."

COC endured a humbling 24-47 loss to Glendale at the conference preview meet Oct. 4 at Arroyo Verde Park in Ventura — with the Vaqueros placing five runners in the top seven — but the Cougars responded on a flatter layout in the rematch.

"The last time we ran against Glendale, we hadn't put any speed workouts in, but running on this course helped a lot," Ornelas said. "We knew as long as we executed our race plan, we'd have a good chance."

All five COC scorers were in the top 15, including Robert Pion (21:01.10) in fourth, Anthony Janaslani (21:24.53) taking 10th, Alex Johnson (21:25.88) placing 12th and Chase Wheeler (21:29.09) surging past Glendale's Jorge Mendoza (21:37.35) and Jorge Serrano (21:41.98) in the final 800 meters to finish 15th.

"Mentally, I knew I really had to prepare for this one," said Pion, who was ill during the conference preview meet, resulting in a 15th-place finish.

"I didn't know if this could happen. I thought I was going to stay sick all the way to the end. I'm glad I felt better, but it wasn't just me, all of our guys stepped up."

Enrique Ramirez (20:50.26) was third and Steban Aviles (21:13.05) placed fifth for Glendale, with Edwardo Vasquez (21:22.92) finishing eighth, just ahead of Valley's Dylan Alexander (21:24.53).

"Those guys were ready, give them credit. (COC assistant George Serrano) did a good job of getting those kids to peak," Glendale coach Eddie Lopez said. "Usually, we're strong kickers, but they got us in the last mile. This is humbling, but you have to know how to lose sometimes. We were flat (Thursday), but we better get unflat real soon."

Naumann became Moorpark's first conference champion since 2000, winning the 5-kilometer race in 18:43.99, but Glendale — led by Nelson taking runner-up in 18:54.97 — had enough depth to prevail with 56 points to capture its ninth straight WSC crown. Moorpark, which had Karla Vernola (19:14.91) rally to take fourth, edged COC 105-110 for second.

"People have been telling me since the beginning of the season that I might be able to do this, but I never knew it could happen," Naumann said. "I just try to do my best every day and give it my all every race."

Dominique Dowell (19:17.27) was fifth, Yesenia Razo (19:52.50) placed 11th and Diana Barrera (20:12.42) took 21st for COC.

Glindyll Mancia (19:23.70) was seventh, Alejandra Quintero (19:55.73) took 12th, Teresa Villafuerte (19:58.22) placed 15th and Caitlyn Selve (20:07.71) finished 20th for Glendale.

Complete Results http://www.directathletics.com/results/xc/4849.html