The San Diego City College women’s and men’s cross country teams advanced to the Southern California regionals after participating at the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference finals at Morley Field on Oct. 20.
The women’s team placed third in its conference and marked the sixth year in a row the Knights qualified for regionals, a City College record “by a lot,” according to the head coach Marco Anzures.
“I thought everybody executed the race we talked about, which was getting out the first mile in the position they wanted to be in,” Anzures said. “And they did that.”
The women’s top two runners, Isabelle Dalton and Diandra Jara, placed in the top 15 of the 5K (3.1 miles) conference finals, earning them all-conference honors.
The men’s team finished fourth in the conference. Head coach Phil Dunn emphasized the important experience the team gained at the men’s 4-mile (6.4K) competition.
“The program is young, we’re growing and we’re just getting stronger,” Dunn said. “Going to regionals just is a confirmation … that we’re doing the right thing, we’re moving in the right direction, we’re getting stronger.”
The top two performers for each team overcame their respective challenges to arrive at the positions they achieved at the tournament.
A freshly healed ankle fracture from a car accident this year didn’t stop Dalton from leading the women’s team for the first time with a 21:05 time and placing 11th among 38 competitors in the women’s 5K race.
Jara finished second on the team in 12th place overall. She was behind Dalton with a 21:11 time, despite hurting her hip at the first turn on the first lap of the race.
“In my mind, I was like, “Okay, forget about your hip. Forget about everything,’” Jara said after the race. “‘All that matters is you focus, and just follow all those girls and don’t get behind.’”
Second-year journalism student Sean Monney finished first on the men’s team (19th of 35 overall) with a personal best time of 23:52 in the men’s 4-mile race.
Monney also came off a challenging semester at City, taking seven classes in addition to working multiple jobs this fall.
“Honestly, I’m glad I took this class,” said Monney, who is managing editor of City Times. “It’s a nice outlet for stress, just running every day.”
David Kelling, in his second year studying business administration, finished second on the team (22nd overall) with a 24:16 time after having run 62 miles in an ultramarathon earlier in the week.
Despite being satisfied with the outcome, Kelling thought a combination of the unexpected heat and being slightly under-recovered from the 62-mile run may have affected his performance at the conference finals.
Both coaches highlighted the individual performances of the rest of the Knights, noting their efforts and accomplished goals.
Dunn was proud of a group of the men’s runners who until this season had not competed in cross country.
“They’ve never done it before,” Dunn said. “And to be able to see them racing at a conference championship and qualifying for regionals is just awesome.”
The SoCal regionals race takes place Nov. 3 in Long Beach. Both City cross country teams may qualify to move on to compete for the state championship if they finish in the top 16 at regionals.
