Rough Trip For Cross Country At SoCal Championships

The Pasadena City College women’s cross country team finished in 17th place, its lowest regional meet standing since 2010, at the Southern California Championships meet held November 7 at Woodley Park in Van Nuys. Despite the placing, the Lancers qualified as a team for the CCCAA State Championships for the fourth straight season.

Because the North region qualified only 11 scoring teams at its championship meet, PCC was able to advance as the state meet allows for 28 qualifying teams to participate. Sophomore Kate Manzke (Maranatha High) was a surprising top Lancer finisher in 66th place overall on the 5-kilometer course with a time of 20 minutes, 16.5 seconds. It was the first time that Manzke led PCC in any meet during her two racing years at the college.

Edna Bailon took 69th (20:19.2) while All-South Coast Conference Second Team performer Ashley Medina labored for 86th (20:49.5). Tansica Sunkamaneevongse, an All-SCC runner as a freshman, placed in the 100 spot (21:05.1) and Marina Flores finished 143rd (22:30.6). The Lancers’ five are all sophomores.

One hundred-seventy-seven runners and 27 scoring teams participated with Glendale College winning the SoCal team title and Southwestern runner Aminat Olowara winning the race in a 17:31.4 clip.

PCC closes out the season with the state meet on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Woodward Park in Fresno. Last year, the Lancers took 14th and they were as high as 10th at the 2011 state championships.

GUZMAN ONLY PCC MEN’S QUALIFIER FOR STATE MEET

PCC freshman Nathan Guzman placed 72nd overall at 21:47.3 as the lone brightspot for a Lancers’ men’s team that took 27th out of 28 scoring teams at the SoCal Championships. Guzman will continue his season as he qualified as an individual for the CCCAA State meet.

The Lancers covered the 4-mile course with their five other runners finishing in the bottom half of the field of 203 racers. The PCC men placed as follows: sophomore Russell Yu, 138th, 22:50, letterman Pedro Lopez, 171st, 23:38, freshman Eric Bravo, 178th, 23:53, rookie Emilio Barragan-Steimer, 182nd, 23:57, and freshman Celso Sandoval Martinez, 190th, 24:38.

College of the Canyons won the team title while Orange Coast’s Lucio Ramirez captured the individual crown in 20:03.

Since the 2002 season, the Lancers men’s program has only qualified as a team to the state meet once (2012, finished 22nd overall). This followed a period between 1994-2001 when PCC was among the elite men’s programs under retired head coach Jesse Gomez. The Lancers finished in the state top 10 five of those years with a state runner-up finish in 1996.

The PCC cross country teams are directed by head coach Armand Crespo, who is completing his eighth year in charge of the two programs. Crespo was an assistant for the women’s program during the 1990s when PCC had its two highest state finishes in 1995 (third) and 1996 (fourth). Crespo is also PCC’s men’s and women’s track and field coach.

[Photo combo–Kate Manzke (left) and Nathan Guzman (right) were the respective top PCC cross country harriers at the SoCal Championships November 7 in Van Nuys, images created by Richard Quinton.

Release Date: 11/12/14
Robert Lewis, Sports Information
Phone: 626-585-7018, Email: rmlewis@pasadena.edu

Fall Sports