Riverside City Dominates SoCal Men's Cross County Finals
Irvine, Calif. - The Riverside City College men's cross-country team advanced to the 3C2A Finals on Friday by capturing the Southern California Regional Finals title at Irvine Regional Park. The Tigers were led by Ian Crocker, who captured the men's individual title.
RCC was fresh off winning the Orange Empire Conference title a week earlier and made a statement to the rest of the region as a sea of orange, black, and white littered the front of the pack on Friday. The Tigers had five harriers finishing in the top 15 in individual competition, led by Crocker. The sophomore crossed the finish line of the 4-mile trek in 20:12.7 to lead the pack by more than 25 seconds.
San Diego Mesa took home the second-place trophy as Cooper Castleberry (second place individually) guided an Olympian squad that had two all-regional finishers. Moorpark College was awarded a third-place trophy, led by Joaquin Ortega-Tomaselli, who finished in seventh.
A total of 14 other harriers from non-qualifying teams advanced to the 3C2A Finals on Friday as individuals.
The 3C2A Championshipswill be held at Woodward Park in Fresno on November 21.
3C2A Championships Qualifying Teams:
1. Riverside
2. San Diego Mesa
3. Moorpark
4. MT SAC
5. Crafton Hills
6. Cuyamaca
7. LA Harbor
8. Bakersfield
9. Cerritos
10. San Bernardino Valley
11. College of the Canyons
12. Orange Coast
13. El Camino
14. Glendale
15. Allan Hancock
16. Long Beach
3C2A Championships Individual Qualifiers (from non-qualifying teams):
1. Daniel Hawara – Antelope Valley
2. Jeffrey Mendonca – Cuesta
3. Noah Rodriguez – Citrus
4. Anthony Perez – Cuesta
5. Diego Fernandez – Oxnard
6. Henry Fulk – Ventura
7. Johnathan Desormiers – Saddleback
8. Eduardo Leal – Fullerton
9. Neftali Perez Jr. – West LA
10. Dominick Martin – Cerro Coso
11. Rey De Gante – East LA
12. Gregory Ostrom – Cerro Coso
13. Juan Hernandez – Fullerton
14. Nico Radlein - Pasadena
(Brad Hoiseth)