After three seasons of finishing outside the top 10 at the California Community College Athletic Association State Championships, the Cerritos College women's cross country team turned in a sixth place finish on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Falcons posted a school-best fourth place finish in 2007 and followed that with a fifth place in 2008, but had been out of the top 10 the last three seasons. They finished with 201 team points this season and trailed only state champion Orange Coast, who had 79 team points, followed by Glendale (100), Moorpark (136), De Anza (156) and Mt. San Antonio (189).
Leading the way for Cerritos was sophomore Karina Sanchez (Warren HS/ECC Compton Center), who ran the cold and rainy course in a time of 19:21.21, which earned her a 32nd place finish out of the 207 overall runners. Sanchez led a trio of Falcon runners that finished close together, and was joined at the finish line by freshman Kaela Crone (Kennedy HS), who took 33rd overall in 19:21.69. Not far behind was freshman Isabel Medina (Paramount HS) with a time of 19:32.76, which earned her a 40th place finish.
Two weeks ago, sophomore Maira Solis (Roosevelt HS/Occidental College) came in 15th place at the Southern California Championships. But she dropped all the way to 56th place at the state championships with a time of 19:50.92, while sophomore Julia Plecnik (St. Joseph HS) was four seconds back with a time of 19:54.48, which earned her a 59th place finish as the fifth Falcon runner to build the team score. Freshmen Kathia Avila (Cerritos HS) placed 68th on the day with a time of 20:00.27, with Patsy Hurley (Mark Keppel HS) the final Cerritos runner to finish, as she ran the course in 20:08.21, good for 72nd place.