Alba, Pirates take top spots at GWC Invitational
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange Coast College women's cross country team set the pace for the entire 15-team field at the Golden West College Invitational, earning the top team score and top individual score on Friday at Central Park.
Led by the strong performance from freshman Jocelyn Alba and five top-15 scores, the Pirates earned a meet-best 42 points, while East L.A. College was a distant second with 114 points, while Cerritos (115), De Anza (118) and Bakersfield (140) rounded out the top five team scores.
Alba, who pulled away from the majority of the 121-runner pack within the first mile of the 5,000-meter race, stayed in front and won the invitational with a time of 19 minutes, 2.12 seconds, over 14 seconds faster than De Anza's Siena Pignataro's second-place time of 19:16.79.
"The first mile, I was telling myself to stay relaxed and to stay focused," Alba said. "At the second mile, going up the hill, I just kept telling myself to push through ... it was going to hurt now, but the downhill would feel better and everything will be ok."
Teammate Jasmin Trujillo earned a fourth-place finish with a solid time of 19:51.58. Alee Reyburn placed 10th overall with a time of 20:18.71, with low points earned by teammates Miriana Hernandez (21:00.73) and Belle Baker (21:09.65). Other top scores for the Pirates included Isabel Ramirez (21:41.59) and Cassandra Garcia (24:35.96).
"We've got a really tight-knit group and I think we are going to have a very good year," Alba said of the Pirates in 2025.
OCC's next competition will take place down in San Diego on Friday, Oct. 10 at the San Diego Mesa Invitational, set for 10 a.m. at Liberty Station.
