Pirates finish 10th at SoCal Finals; Allen finishes fourth to lead Pirates
ORANGE -- The standout season for sophomore Alyssa Allen continues as the Orange Coast College women's cross country team placed 10th overall at the 2016 Southern California Regional Meet on Friday at Irvine Park.
Allen, last week's Orange Empire Conference champion, maintained a spot near the head of the race throughout before Cuesta College's Miranda Daschian pulled away from the field and won the race with a 5K time of 18 minutes, 12.3 seconds.
In a seven-runner pile of humanity, Allen finished fourth overall with a time of 18:53.3, crossing the finish line in a dead heat with Cuesta's Leza Cassidy. Glendale's Giselle Masedo finished second with an 18:32.9, while Vaquero teammate Leana Setian (18:47.3) finished third.
Fellow OCC sophomore Bethani Heising also posted a solid time for the Pirates, finishing 34th out of 185 competitors with a time of 19:56.6. Other OCC times included Karen Cruz (21:13.8), Jennilee Reyes (22:44.1), Elizabeth Diaz Cortes (22:51.5) and Tarah Buckels (23:40.1).
With the 10th-place team finish, the Pirates have qualified to compete at the California Community College Athletic Association Women's Cross Country State Championships, set for Saturday, Nov. 19 at Fresno's Woodward Park.
