Twice as good for Orange Coast

Orange Coast College freshman Humberto Rojas and sophomore Ava Jones

each claimed the men and women’s individual titles Saturday while

helping to lead both OCC cross country teams to victory at the

California Community College championships at Woodward Park in

Fresno.

Rojas, the CIF Southern Section Division III champion in the 1,600

as a senior at Estancia High last spring, ran the four-mile Woodward

Park course in 20:18, three seconds ahead of East Los Angeles’

Gerardo Rabelo.

Three Coast men finished in the top four, with sophomore Art Diaz,

the Southern California champion, running to third place in 20:27

followed by Jose Casillas (fourth, 20:27).

Sophomores David Ojeda (11th, 20:50) and Vidal Barragon (15th,

21:03), along with freshman Francisco Guerra (42nd, 21:31) and Irwin

Salas (54th, 21:42), contributed to Coast’s 34 points, 59 ahead of

second-place American River.

The Coast men claimed the third state title in the sport and the

first since 1999. John Knox completed his second year coaching OCC’s

men’s and women’s teams.

Coast won its sixth women’s cross country title in seven years,

third in a row and 11th overall behind Jones’ 17:44 on the 3.1-mile

course. The Southern California runner-up outpaced Mt. San Antonio’s

Christina Lara by 21 seconds.

Jones was followed by a 10th-place finish by sophomore Annie

Garton (18:54) and sophomore Sandra Montoya (11th, 18:55) for Coast.

Freshman Ludi Valdez finished 14th in 19:04 and was followed by

Jessica Huerta (22nd, 19:16), Sarah Delano (53rd, 20:06) and Emilie

Vo (73rd, 20:35). Coast finished with 46 points while El Camino came

in second with 95.