Cecilia Instebo took 12th on Tuesday and Ben Garland finished 23rd at the WSC Cross Country Championships in San Luis Obispo, leading the SBCC women and men to Southern Cal Championship berths.
The Vaquero teams both placed fifth in the 12-school field. Glendale claimed the men’s and women’s titles.
Instebo was clocked in 20:06 on the 5K Fairbanks women’s course and teammate Kelly Mayer took 13th in 20:10. Harley Arce was 20th in 21:00.
“Our top three ran really well and we moved up one place from the WSC Preview meet,” noted coach Scott Fickerson, whose women earned their fourth straight trip to the Southern Cal meet. “We had an average improvement of about a minute per runner from the WSC Preview.”
SBCC placed five runners in the top 36 of the men’s race — Garland (23rd, 22:37); Omar Padilla (25th, 22:39); Matt Bailey (31st, 23:01); Nery Gonzalez (35th, 23:17) and Chino Garnica (36th, 23:17).
Glendale’s Mizrael Mendez topped the field of 107 in 21:20.
“Our top three have been a little dinged-up, so it was up to our No. 4 and 5 runners (Gonzalez and Garnica),” said Fickerson. “It was important for them to step up and they did.
“Now we have another 10 days for our top three to get healthy.”
The Vaqueros will run in the Southern Cal Championships on Nov. 4 at Guasti Park in Ontario.
WSC Championships
At Cuesta
Men
Team (12 schools) — 1, Glendale 40. 5, SBCC 150. Note: Top 6 qualify for So Cal Championships.
Individual (4 miles) — 1, Mizrael Mendez, Glendale, 21:20.
SBCC runners — 23, Ben Garland 22:37. 25, Omar Padilla 22:39. 31, Matt Bailey 23:01. 35, Nery Gonzalez 23:17. 36, Chino Garnica 23:17. 57, Dennis Jonsson 24:40. 63, James Leighton 25:23. 87, Andre Minassian 26:39.
Women
Team (12 schools) — 1, Glendale 18. 5, SBCC 171.
Individual (5K) — 1, Karen Rosas, Glendale, 18:30.
SBCC runners — 12, Cecilia Instebo 20:06. 13, Kelly Mayer 20:10. 20, Harley Arce 21:00. 80, Ashleigh Giacomotti 25:17. 82, Rita Beltran 25:37. 88, Jenny Paul 26:16.
