Clean South Coast Conference Sweep At State Cross Country Championships
The 2018 season was the Year of the South Coast Conference in men's and women's cross country. That was never more evident than the results of the CCCAA State Championship that saw SCC schools capture all four titles--both team first-place trophies and both individual race gold medals on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The only other year that the SCC won all four titles was back in 1980.*
Los Angeles Harbor College won its first-ever women's championship behind first Seahawks race champion Brenda Rosales Coria, who completed the 3.1 mile course in 17 minutes, 59.5 seconds. Coria, who was the state runner-up as a freshman, was 10 seconds faster than the next finisher and raced 13 seconds faster than her 2017 time. She is the seventh SCC runner to ever win the state individual crown and first since Laura Aceves of East Los Angeles took first in 2013.
It is the 14th state team title in women's cross country by a South Coast member and first back-to-back SCC team titles (Mt. San Antonio won in 2017) since Mt. SAC won consecutive championships in 1995 and 1996.
For the second straight season, Mt. San Antonio won the men's state championship while El Camino's Carson Bix ran to the individual title with a 20:07.6 time. Bix upset conference and regional champ Salvador Capetillo of Mt. SAC who placed state runner-up and was 13 seconds behind Bix over the 4-mile course. It is back-to-back individual titles by SCC runners as Mt. SAC's Manuel Fernandez won the race in 2017. It is the first time the conference represented back-to-back individual winners since 1980-81 by then SCC-member Grossmont and runners Steve McCormack (1980) and Rodney Rivera (1981).
Like the women, the men's team championship is No. 14 by the conference and Mt. SAC's third overall (the other in 1989). Bix is the first El Camino student-athlete to win since David Cardona in 2010. Bix is just the ninth South Coast runner to ever win the state meet.
El Camino finished in second place as a team behind the Mounties and LA Harbor was fourth as three of the top four finishers were SCC teams. The next fastest SCC individual after Bix and Capetillo was Mt. SAC's Chris Weiland in sixth at 20:35.5.
On the women's side, Mt. SAC placed fourth and El Camino was 11th. Rebecca Ruiz of Mt. SAC placed fifth overall at 18:30.
*In 1980, Orange Coast won the women's title and Grossmont's Sue Gelley the individual race while on the men's side it was McCormack and his Grossmont team that won titles. OCC and Grossmont left the South Coast by the mid-1980s.
COMPLETE RESULTS FROM THE CCCAA STATE MEET AT LINK: