Cross Country Ends Season with personal records at So Cal Regional Championships

The Los Angeles Mission College women's cross country team finished its season at the Southern California Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 2. The team placed 23rd overall, which did not qualify them to move on to the CCCAA state championship meet. Despite the season ending earlier than they would have liked, the athletes saw many bright spots in their last race of the year. 

In their best race of the season as a team, the Eagles were led by freshman Nataly Galicia (105th) who continued to lower her personal best on the 5k with a time of 21:38. Freshman Ruth Cobieya (132nd) finished exactly one minute behind Galicia at 22:38. Freshman Paola Rojas (137th) was 50 seconds behind Cobieya and was the third runner across the line for the Eagles. 

Sophomore Melissa Mejorada (146th) was the fourth Eagle to finish with her sophomore teammate Samantha Ochoa (151st) right behind her just five places back. Freshman Suzette Sanchez (160th) was the sixth and final Eagle to cross the line.

As a team, the Lady Eagles had their best race in terms of time. This week's team standout, Galicia, came into her own this season after a high school personal best of 25:00. She quickly dropped that down almost a full minute by October. She continued to work through some pain and came away with her best race of the season. She dropped three and a half minutes off of her personal best by the end of the year, and just fell short of qualifying for the championship meet.  

All teams who qualified will finish the season this Saturday, Nov. 17, at the California State Cross Country Championships in Fresno, CA at Woodward Park.