Posted: Sep 01, 2020

Tuesday Time Machine -- Men's and Women's Cross Country

Welcome back to the start of the 2020-2021 school year, Pirate fans! In the middle of all of this abnormal, we will do our best here at Orange Coast College to keep fans smiling, entertained and informed while we all try and defeat this COVID pandemic.

Over the next several months, I will be doing week-long spotlights on all of our sports, taking the Pirate nation through our storied past, informing them of our proud present and preparing them for our optimistic future.

In addition to helping you "remember when" I hope to show you just how great our programs currently are and illustrate that our impressive history is just a precursor to what the future of OCC sports will provide us all.

This week, we will dive into the rich history of our men's and women's cross country program, currently led by longtime head coach Marco Ochoa.

Just how dominant has cross country been throughout the history of Orange Coast College athletics?? Well, out of our 94 state and national titles, TWENTY of these championships have come from men's and women's cross country.

The OCC women have been a cross country powerhouse since the sport began at this level back in 1977. In just four short seasons, the Pirates begin a domination that saw them rack up 16 team state championships over the next 33 seasons. The next-closest school to reach that high of number is Mt. San Antonio College, with seven over that same span.

To further finite the dominance of this program, let's take a look at a 17-year window of the women's CC program from 1997-2013.

1997 -- State Champions
1998 -- State Champions
1999 -- State Champions
2000 -- 2nd in State
2001 -- State Champions
2002 -- State Champions
2003 -- State Champions
2004 -- State Champions
2005 -- State Champions
2006 -- State Champions
2007 -- 2nd in State
2008 -- State Champions
2009 -- 2nd in State
2010 -- 4th in State
2011 -- 2nd in State
2012 -- State Champions
2013 -- State Champions

The depth of the OCC cross country programs can't be overlooked. But, in addition to the team success, the individual accolades can not be ignored. Here are a list of women's cross country state champions since 1977 ...

1982 -- Kim Devetis
2000 -- Heather Shurtleff
2002 -- Michelle Icban
2003 -- Ava Jones
2004 -- Ludi Valdez
2008 -- Crystal Reed
2009 -- Crystal Reed

Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that from 1995 to 2013, the Pirate women captured an incredible 18 consecutive Orange Empire Conference titles. That is a stretch of dominance that is rarely seen in any sport at this level.

Over on the men's side, the Pirates have knocked out four state crowns in school history, winning titles in 1981, 1999, 2003 and again in 2004. OCC's first-ever individual state cross country champion came all the way back to 1974, when John Olswag topped the field in the large school division with a time of 19 minutes, 37 seconds.

That stayed the same until 2001, when Pirate standout Ryan Bousquet broke the 27-year drought by capturing the state title with a time of 20:05.

In spite of "only" four state titles, the Pirate men have been a steady force among the top teams in the state year in and year out. In fact, from 2001-16, OCC finished in the top 10 in the state EVERY YEAR, including championships in 2003, 2004 and top-three finishes in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2014.

But OCC's golden age in the sport came in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. There, the Pirate men AND women won team state titles and had individual state champions well ... the ONLY time in the history of the sport for one school to capture both state and individual titles in back-to-back seasons for both teams.

The 2003 teams were led by Ava Jones on the women's side and freshman Humberto Rojas, while in 2004, Ludi Valdez captured the state crown, while Rojas successfully defended his state crown. Rojas is just one of two runners in California Community College history to win back-to-back individual titles, joining Grossmont College's Ed Mendoza, who went back-to-back in 1971 and 1972.

"During those two years, there was a synergistic effect within the team that I had not seen before," Ochoa recalled. "We had a group of runners that really enjoyed each other on and off the field, and they created an environment where they really believed that the development of the team as a whole was more important than the individual desire to win. Going into the State Meet, the only thing in their mind was the pride to perform well and represent Orange Coast College as best as we could. And at the end, we were told about the significance of the performance and that we had just done something that was never than before."

From 2004 state champion Ludi Valdez ... "The memories created at OCC will last a lifetime. The friendships I developed I still cultivate- Gabriella Santana, Yuriana Hernandez, Humberto Rojas, Jose Casillas, and Patrick Fitzgerald are permanent. From getting kicked out of practice for laughing too much, running camp shenanigans, coach threatening to drop me from the team if I missed another Saturday practice (because of work), bus rides, eating Doritos and a Gatorade for lunch, the struggle and the laughter ... is all one GREAT experience."

The 2003 team members were:

Humberto Rojas, Art Diaz, Jose Casillas, David Ojeda, Vidal Barragan, Francisco Guerra, Irwin Salas

Ava Jones, Ann Garton, Sandra Montoya, Ludi Valdez, Jessica Huerta, Sarah DeLano, Emily Vo

The 2004 team members were:

Humberto Rojas, Kellen Acosta, Jose Casillas, Jason Valenzuela, Matt Staggs, Patrick Fitzgerald, Jesus Salazar

Ludi Valdez, Emily Vo, Jewel Butler, Gabriella Santana, Rebecca Powell, Araceli Huerta, Jennifer Sliwa

ZOILA GOMEZ -- OCC Student, Cross Country and Track Athlete, 1998-2000

An athletic career that did not start until her senior year of high school, Zoila Gomez became a fast learner, literally, for the Orange Coast College cross country and track programs. After helping the Mustangs to a state championship during her lone prep season, Gomez came to Coast and put together a two-year career for the ages.

The cross country team NEVER suffered a defeat during her two seasons as she led the Pirates to back-to-back Orange Empire Conference, Southern California and state championships in 1998 and 1999.

As a member of the Pirates track and field team, Zoila won eight individual Orange Empire Conference championships and four individual state titles, setting the school and state record in the 10,000 meters along the way.

For her incredible stretch of success, Zoila was named OCC's Female Athlete of the Year two years in a row. Only three other athletes -- Tami LaVelle (Swimming), Julie Slattery (Tennis) and Humberto Rojas (Cross Country/Track) have earned this honor twice in Coast's 61-year history.

Following her Coast career, Gomez moved on to Adams State College in Alamosa, CO, where she continued to dominate her competition. At ASC, Gomez won 10 conference titles, 11 All-American honors, six NCAA Division II national titles and was twice named the Division II Female Athlete of the Year (Cross Country in 2002 and Outdoor Track in 2004). Her hard work earned Zoila the 2004 Honda Award for Best Division II Athlete and to this day, she still holds the school record in the 10,000.

After Adams State College, Gomez began her career as a marathon runner when she celebrated her U.S. citizenship by running in the 2005 New York City Marathon. Six marathons later, she represented the United States at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan and after a fourth-place performance at the 2008 Women's Marathon Olympic Trials in Boston, Zoila became the marathon alternate for the 2008 USA Olympic Team.