The women’s cross-country team at Mesa College returned from practice at Balboa Park on Sept. 15 to find their car had been broken into and all of their personal belongings had been stolen.

According to a districtwide email from Head Coach Renee Ross, the thieves got away with school books, credit cards, several iPhones, iPods, an iPad and more than $400 in cash. A witness called the San Diego Police Department, which will be conducting an investigation.

Ross declined to comment further on the incident when asked for an interview.

It remains unclear if the thieves are connected to the recent car break-ins that have occurred at the San Diego Zoo but the recent crime that occurred to the women’s cross-country at Mesa hit the running community hard.

“I was shocked and very disappointed and very saddened when I heard the news,” said Paul Greer, men’s cross-country head coach at San Diego City College. “It was daring – because the way they did it by bashing the windows in the middle of the day and drawing a lot of attention; I think that the thieves or whoever did this must have been watching and singled the women’s team out.”

Balboa Park is a popular place for cross-country teams to train during the fall season and Greer expressed that the team will continue with their normal practice routine.

“Balboa Park is our training-grounds and we will continue practicing and moving on with what we are doing; we will continue taking the same safety precautions such as locking up cars and be alert while at the park – the women’s team (at Mesa) did nothing wrong and they did everything right. This was a pretty daring crime and an isolated incident that couldn’t be prevented.”