Ranked fourth in the state for the majority of the season, the Cerritos College women's cross country team took fifth place at the CCCAA State Championships in Fresno on Saturday. The Falcons finished the day with 186 team points and were edged for fourth place by Northern California school Hartnell College, who had 159 team points. In helping the team with their placing, they received several outstanding performances along the way.

Sophomore Ariel Melendez (St. Paul HS), who has led the team all year, shaved :16 seconds off her time from when the team ran the couse in September and came in 16th place out of 196 total runners. She posted a time of 18:55.6 and held off three runners who were on her heels. Just :15 later, freshman Marylu Pulido (Whittier HS) crossed the finish line in 19:13.4, which put her in 28th place. It was :31 seconds faster than the first time she ran the course.

A pair of Falcon runners finished one second part, which helped them finish in fifth place overall. Sophomore Janet Salazar (Paramount HS) turned in an excellent time of 19:32.9 for 43rd place, with freshman Maria Orosco (Katella HS) taking 46th place in 19:33.9. Salazar's time was 1:38 faster than her first time on the course, with Orosco shaving a half minute off her time. The fifth runner to finish the team scoring was sophomore Stephanie Ruiz (Western HS), who finished in a time of 19:44.4, good for 53rd place.

Right behind Ruiz was sophomore Jocelyn Orozco (Downey HS), who came in 55th place with a time of 19:46.0, while freshman Stephanie Perea (Downey HS) was the final Cerritos runner on the day and took 103rd place in a time of 20:31.9.