![2022 Cerritos College women's cross country team picture](/sports/wxc/2022-23/photos/WXC-CoachDowneyClassic_main_story.jpg?max_width=450)
Results
With five of the top nine finishers at the Coach Downey Invitational in San Diego on Friday, the Cerritos College women's cross country team took the team championship. The Falcons finished with 19 team points. Competing over the 5K course at Morley Field, freshman Samantha Martinez (Fountain Valley HS) was the first runner to cross the finish line, as she posted a time of 20:14.1, which was 12 seconds faster than her closest competition.
Also running as a pair were freshmen Delilah Chavez (Lakewood HS) and Megan Feitz (Fountain Valley HS), who posted the fifth and sixth best times, respectively. Chavez completed the course in a time of 21:12.1, with Feitz close behind at 21:14.7. Running for the first time this season, sophomore Lauren Berg (Fountain Valley HS), who was an All-State selection last season, posted the seventh fastest time in 21:44.1. She was just added to the roster at the beginning of the week and had only a few days to train.
Finishing in the top 10 was freshman Leslie Juarez (Warren HS), who capped off the team scoring with a ninth place time of 22:10.0. Not too far behind was freshman Mia Najera (Warren HS), whose time of 22:46.5 put her in 11th place out of the 40 total runners. Also competing for the Falcons on the day were Cynthia Lezama (El Rancho HS; 26:56.3; 27th place).