Women's Cross Country Earns 3C2A Scholar Team Award

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director   

The College of the Canyons 2024 conference champion women's cross country team continues to earn recognition, having recently been selected as a California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) Scholar Team Recipient for the 2024-25 academic year.  

The Scholar Team Award is the highest academic team achievement given annually by the 3C2A. It emphasizes the collective academic achievement of all members of a specific team. Only one team is selected for each 3C2A sport, with a total of 23 men's and women's teams honored for the 2024-25 school year.

"(The award) represents a standard of excellence to which all our teams should aspire, and one of which you and your student-athletes should be extremely proud," said 3C2A Executive Director Jennifer Cardone in her congratulatory notification message. "Please accept our sincere congratulations to your institution and team on earning this prestigious award."

To be eligible, all team members must have excelled academically with a total GPA of 3.0 or higher. The team should also have demonstrated better than average accomplishments in intercollegiate athletic competition. 

The eight-member 2024 women's cross country team posted a combined team GPA of 3.8.

The team won the program's first Western State Conference (WSC) championship under COC head coach Lindie Kane before advancing to the 3C2A State Championship meet for a fifth straight year. 

Canyons finished sixth at the 3C2A Southern California Regional Championships at Chaffey College before taking ninth place at the 3C2A State Championships in Fresno.  

The Cougars also boasted four all-WSC awards with Victoria Jamison, Alyssa Arriaga, Katelyn Catu and Lilianna Moreira recognized for their efforts.

Jamison went on to earn All-State and All-American honors based on her eighth-place finish at the 2024 state championship meet.

The cross country program's Scholar Team Award comes on the heels of last year's dual award winners in the 2023-24 COC women's golf and football teams.

"We're extremely proud of our women's cross country team and excited to see their hard work in the classroom and on the track recognized," said Matt Crater, the college's Director of Athletics, Student Engagement & Student Support."This award speaks to the dedication of our student-athletes and the strong academic culture we strive to build at College of the Canyons."

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. 

—Photo by Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information