Sophomore Cecilia Instebo placed 18th in a field of 200 women’s runners on Saturday as SBCC opened the cross country season in the Southern Cal Preview Meet at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa.
SBCC didn’t field a complete team and didn’t post a score.
“Cecilia continued where she left off last season, showing she is among the top runners in the state,” said coach Scott Fickerson. “This is an excellent start for her.
“The women ran a smart race given the conditions and the challenging course. They went out controlled and raced with patience and poise. While it may not look good on paper, we accomplished our goals, which were to race the course well and get a good race experience for our season opener.”
Ian Roberts, a freshman from Ventura High, finished 50th in the 4-mile men’s race in 22:21, leading the Vaqueros to 18thin a field of 26 schools.
“Ian showed confidence beyond his years in his first college race,” Fickerson noted. “The men grouped very well and raced tough in the second half of the race. We have some work ahead of us to get to where we need to, but this race shows me that we are capable of a strong finish in November.
“I’m very proud of how both teams handled the very challenging conditions.”
The Vaqueros will compete in the Bakersfield Invitational on Friday, Sept. 28.
At Costa Mesa
Women (5K)
Individual — 1, Grace Zamudio, Glendale, 18:38. SBCC results — 18, Cecilia Instebo 19:49. 47, Nicole Bartlett 21:00. 53, Emily Bernath 21:11. 66, Nicole Mozilo 21:36.
Individual — 1, Munir Kahssay, Cerritos, 20:38. SBCC results — 50, Ian Roberts 22:21. 72, Marcial Ordaz 22:59. 82, Jamison Leighton 23:13. 97, Omar Padilla-Lopez 23:33. 147, Nery Gonzalez 25:18.
