Taking part in the Southern California Championships at Chaffey College on Friday, the Cerritos College men's cross country team finished in fifth place out of 26 schools. The Falcons, who qualified for the 3C2A STate Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on November 23, compiled 155 team points and had four of the top 40 finishers in the four-mile course.

Leading the way for Cerritos was Joshua Melendez (St. Paul HS), who earned 2nd Team All-Region by coming in 12th place overall in a time of 21:07.2. In the final mile, he pulled ahead of four runners and held off several others at the end. He was followed on the team by Louis Santibanez (Warren HS), who was clocked in 21:24.7 to come in 25th place out of 183 total runners. He was able to hold off two other runners, who finished less than two seconds later, while he also pulled past two others in the final mile.

The pair of Joshua Morales (Warren HS) and Robert Guerrero (Long Beach Poly HS) finished nine seconds apart to help the team with their top five finish. Morales was clocked in 21:43.4 to finished 36th overall, while Morales was 40th overall in a time of 21:52.5. Both were able to use their kick in the last few hundred yards to finish ahead of several runners. The fifth runner who helped comprise the team score was Jacob Cosio (California HS), as his 52nd place time of 22:12.2 was instrumental in the team's success, as he pulled ahead of over a dozen runners in that last mile..

Also running on the day for Cerritos were Gerardo Rubio (Warren HS/Long Beach City College), who finished 75th overall in a time of 22:34.7, with Mikel Bautista (Warren HS) getting clocked in 22:48, good for 80th place.