Riverside Men, Women Sweep OEC Championships
The Riverside Community College men's cross country team won its fourth OEC XC championship since coach McCarron took over the program in 2007. With a field of seven teams and 81 runners lined up at Mason Park in Irvine, the Tigers, who are currently ranked 3rd in the state, came through with a convincing performance. Five RCC runners finished in the top ten, and seven finished in the top fourteen, earning all-conference honors. The Tigers were led by freshman Joshua Silva (Corona HS) who finished 2nd with a time of 20:47. Jeronimo Brito 21:10 (La Sierra HS) was sixth, Cristian Malloy 21:19 (Vista Murrieta) was 8th, Anthony Arvizu 21:20 (Great Oak) was 9th and Michael Simpson 21:27 (Canyon Springs) was 10th. The Tigers scored 35 points, and the second place team, Saddleback, scored 65 points. "The depth and packing of this team have been key to our success all season. The race plan was to have our fifth man beat all other team's second man, which is not an easy task, and they executed the plan perfectly." Coach McCarron
The lady Tigers also took home the OEC championship title, their second in a row, making it the first time in RCC history that both the men and women have won the OEC XC title in the same season. The Tigers will compete on Friday, November 6, at Mission Bay Park in San Diego for the Southern California Championships.