Harbor's Brenda Rosales-Coria 2nd Straight SCC Member To Win State Athlete of the Year

Los Angeles Harbor College sophomore Brenda Rosales-Coria became the second straight South Coast Conference student-athlete to earn the annual California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) State Women's Athlete of the Year Award. The talented distance runner was selected for the 2018-19 season after Cerritos tennis player Kseniia Prokopchuk earned the coveted trophy for 2017-18.

https://www.cccaasports.org/CCCSIA/CCCSIA_Athletes_of_the_Year_2019

Rosales-Coria had one of the most remarkable seasons in community college history as a team member of two different colleges in two different sports. In the Fall, she scored the 2018 CCCAA state individual cross country title, winning in under 18 minutes (17:59.4). Her performance at the 3.1 mile Woodward Park course in Fresno helped LA Harbor to achieve its first-ever state team championship in the sport. She was also a repeat All-American in cross country as she finished state individual runner-up at the 2017 state meet.

Rosales-Coria, who attended Long Beach Poly High, was the South Coast Conference and SoCal individual champion in the trifecta of big victories in the sport.

In track and field, she competed for West LA College only because as a student-athlete of a Los Angeles Community College District school she was allowed to compete for the Wildcats since Harbor does not host a track and field team. Rosales-Coria proved again to be a force in the Spring.

At the 2019 CCCAA Track and Field Championships, Rosales-Coria was named the Women's Track Athlete of the State Meet by capturing three gold medals. She was champion in the 800 meters (2:11.74, only .03 of a second off the top national mark), won the 1,500 meters (a top national time of 4:30.76), and took first again in the 5,000 meters (17:14.96, second-fastest time in the nation). Rosales-Coria also was a 2-time champion in the 1,500 and 5,000 meter events.

San Joaquin Delta College pitcher Robert Gasser earned this season's State Men's Athlete of the Year.

Created in 2011-12, the SIA award has gone to one other SCC athlete when Mt. San Antonio track and field star Cravon Gillespie won in 2015-16.