Cougars Finish Third in Women's Race, Eighth on Men's Side

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director  

FRESNO — College of the Canyons got a sneak peek of the course which will host the annual 3C2A state championship meet later this fall, using the opportunity to post another successful run at the 'Crush Invitational' at Woodward Park on Friday.

COC's women's team finished the event third while the men's team ran to an eight-place result in the team standings.

The Lady Cougars trailed meet winner San Diego Mesa College (56) and Clovis Community College (84). Canyons (100), Allan Hancock College (105) and Hartnell College (105) rounded out the top five slots in the field of 15 qualifying schools.

Freshman Victoria Jamison finished fourth in the field of 142 runners with her time of 19:16 in leading the way for Canyons. 

Giselle Ruiz was next to finish after clocking a time of 20:17.3 to finish 15th on the 5K course with fellow freshman Alyssa Arriaga ending the day 22nd overall at 20:44.5.

COC sophomore Katelyn Catu ran a pace of 20:52.6, good for 31st place. Lilianna Moreira was the final Cougar to score with a time of 21:02.2 in the 34th slot.

Kassidy Vargas (51st/21:43.4), Emily Fairbanks (89th/24:00.6) and Emily Valdez (92nd/24:06.7) also competed in the event but were not included in the final team score.

The COC women's team has now finished top-three in its first two events of the season after winning the season-opening San Diego Cross Country Kickoff. 

The Cougars' men's squad finished eighth in the field of 19 at this week's meet in Fresno and continues to be competitive after taking second a week ago in San Diego.

San Diego Mesa (32) won the men's race by a wide margin with San Bernardino Valley College (103), Hartnell (131), Bakersfield College (141), American River College (151), De Anza College (165), Clovis (221) and Canyons (231).

Freshman Nathan Parras led the Cougar contingent for a second straight week with his time of 21:41.7 slotting him 17th in the individual standings.

Sophomore Jack Eaton was next for COC at a final time of 22:08.8 in the 27th spot with Nathaniel Wilkinson not far behind in 33rd at 22:19.5. 

Musa Rahman was 60th in the field of 189 runners at 23:01.1 while Chris An finished the course at 26:21.4 in 146th, representing the final scoring runner.

Montell Frye (110th/29:19) and Raul Rosas (179th/21:11.1) also competed for the Cougars.

'Preview' season continues with Canyons next slated to run at the 3C2A SoCal Preview hosted by Chaffey College at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 13.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.