The men’s race takes off towards the harbor on Leadbetter Beach at the beginning of the course. (Presidio Sports Photo)
SBCC sophomore Cecilia Instebo claimed second place on Friday in the SBCC Invitational cross country race at Shoreline Park. She ran the fourth-fastest time in the history of the women?s 5K course (20:26), finishing 32 seconds behind unbeaten Grace Graham-Zamudio of Glendale.
Zamudio broke the course record with a 19:54 clocking on the unique course that started on the sand at Leadbetter Beach. It was the third straight runner-up finish by Instebo.
Nicole Bartlett was 21st and Dean Roell 34th for Santa Barbara, which finished fourth out of 13 teams. Orange Coast beat Glendale for the title, 31-40. SBCC had 147 points.
“We sat out three of our normal top five scoring women to better prepare for the WSC Championships,? said coach Scott Fickerson. ?To place fourth with the squad we ran today really was great. I’m proud of those five women for running tough on our course and finishing so high.
?Cecilia is really running strongly right now. She put herself among some very fine company in the top 5 times on our course.”
Ian Roberts (12th, 22:44) and Omar Padilla (15th, 22:49) led SBCC to a seventh-place finish on the 4-mile men?s course. Riverside won the team title and Daniel Guerrero of Sequoias was the individual champ in 21:58.
?The men’s field was very strong and we got in there and mixed it up well,? Fickerson stated. ?We closed the gap on Cuesta, who placed 2nd last week at the WSC Preview, so that shows we?re still on track to move up in our placing at the WSC Championships in 10 days.”
The Vaqueros will host the WSC Championships on Oct. 23.
SBCC INVITATIONAL RESULTS
Women
Team (13 schools) — 1, Orange Coast 31. 2, Glendale 40. 3, Antelope Valley 135. 4, SBCC 147.
Individual (5K) — 1, Grace Graham-Zamudio, Glendale, 19:54 (course record). 2, Cecilia Instebo, SBCC, 20:26 (#4 in course history). Other SBCC results –21, Nicole Bartlett 22:15. 34, Dean Roell 23:18. 59, Mia Owens 24:32. 63, Sarah Gonzalez 24:52.Men
Team — 1, Riverside 53. 2, Orange Coast 67. 3, Glendale 69. 7, SBCC 176.
Individual (4 miles) — 1, Daniel Guerrero, Sequoias, 21:58.
SBCC results — 12, Ian Roberts 22:44. 15, Omar Padilla 22:49. 50, Marcial Ordaz 24:13. 66, Nery Gonzalez 24:45. 84, Jamison Leighton 25:18. 125, Andy Hernandez 27:12. 141, Kenny Drake 29:35.
