OCC captures state title again

FRESNO — For most of the year, Orange Coast College women’s cross country coach Marco Ochoa had six runners to work with.

That’s all he needed to guide the Pirates to their sixth consecutive state championship.

Newport Harbor High graduate Elda Hernandez led the way, finishing in sixth place with a time of 18 minutes, 55 seconds as OCC ran away from Glendale, 71-134, at the Community College State Championships Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

“This year was a challenge because of the low turnout,” said Ochoa, a fifth-year coach, who usually boasts 10-12 runners. “We got through the regular season fine, winning every junior college event, but then came the Southern California championships two weeks ago and we didn’t do as well as everyone thought we would.

“Some thought we wouldn’t be able to recover.”

The Pirates showed they could rebound after their fourth-place showing at the Southern California finals at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster.

Kelly Oelschlager, OCC’s No. 3 runner, returned after missing the state qualifier because of a bacterial infection, leaving the team with just five runners and allowing Glendale to easily win.

Oelschlager made her presence felt in Fresno, though. She helped the Pirates win big on the biggest stage, where Bakersfield placed third (145), Southwestern fourth (152) and Riverside fifth (158).

Erendira Uriostegui had OCC’s second-best finish at seventh place in 18:56, followed by Krista Glen (13th, 19:11), Oelschlager (24th, 19:34), Kim Jennings (29th, 19:39) and Claire Fleming (81st, 20:38).

“A lot of us stepped up and we had to because we had no one else to fill in for us,” said Hernandez, who plans to run for Vanguard University next year as a junior. “We were a little nervous when girls quit before the season and some went to (four-year universities), and then we lost (Natalie Gonzalez to injuries), but our coach pushed us.”

Ochoa also motivated the men’s program, which a year ago finished 18th at the state finals after winning the title the previous two years.

The men took seventh this year, and Ernesto Castaneda recorded OCC’s best mark at 20:31 for fifth.

The rest of the Pirates were Alfonso Silvas (35th, 21:14), Martin Bernard (51st, 21:29), Nate Mouzis (53rd, 21:30), Nick St. Andre (91st, 22:00), Travis Foerester (96th, 22:02) and Erik Lopez (142nd, 22:45).