JC cross country: Pirates sweep on Back Bay courses

UPPER NEWPORT BAY - The Orange Coast College men’s and women’s

cross country teams Saturday easily swept to titles at the Orange Empire

Conference Preview Meet along the Newport Back Bay courses.

In the men’s competition, sophomore Ryan Bousquet crossed the tape

first on the four-mile mostly dirt course in 20:46, leading a pack of

five scoring Pirates in the top 10.

Orange Coast, which won the team title with 29 points over runner-up

Santa Ana (62), was also led by Joel Guzman (21:48), Allen Childress

(22:01), Victor Lopez (22:19) and Jason Foutch (22:22), placing fourth,

fifth, ninth and 10th, respectively.

“When you start putting five in the top 10, you’ll be pretty hard

pressed to have someone beat you,” OCC Coach John Goldman said.

For Bousquet, an Arizona State transfer, it was his second individual

victory in as many weeks, following last week’s win at the Southern

California Preview Meet at Antelope Valley.

“He’s very talented,” Goldman said of Bousquet.

On the women’s side, OCC dominated with 17 points, followed by

runner-up Fullerton (65) on the shorter 5,000-meter course, as Michelle

Icban (19:28) came in first place, heading a 1-2-3 finish for the

Pirates.

“I sat down with the teams afterward for a team meeting and I told

them, ‘I don’t know what to say. You all ran incredible. All I can do is

applaud you,”’ Goldman said. “And the women, obviously, did extremely

well, especially since two of our top gals sat out with nagging

injuries.”

Following Icban was Lindsey Allen (20:05) and Katie Mais (20:30) in

second and third, respectively, for the Pirates, while Suzette Dinoso

(20:50) placed fifth and Natalie St. Andre (21:30) seventh.

The Pirates race again Saturday, when they host their second straight

invitational -- the Orange Coast Classic at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa.

The Pirates will also host the OEC Championships later this year at the

Newport Back Bay courses.