Pirate sophomore Sam Boyle took control at the 2-mile mark and raced to a 10-second victory in the 4-mile men's Western State Conference preview at Oxnard College Friday morning. Boyle's lifetime best mark of 20:18 led him to the individual medalist honor, and the VC men's cross country team finished seventh overall while Jordyn Vassaur placed fifth in the women's race leading the Pirates to a fifth place team finish.
Following Boyle for the Pirate men were Francisco Erazo (34th, 21:45), David Torres (37th, 21:55), Christian Gil (42nd, 22:09), Ronaldo Flores (47th, 22:22), Jose Tamayo (55th, 22:35) and Frank Chavez (70th, 23:37). VC placed seventh overall of the 12 teams, a spot that would be the last auto qualifying spot for Southern California Regionals at the WSC Championships in three weeks. The men's team will have to duplicate or surpass this team finish to punch their ticket to the state meet qualifier, but their confidence is high.
The women were lead again by Vassaur, who shaved over 35 seconds from her previous season's best time as she finished 13th on the 5k course in 19:35. Amanda Wendt (25th, 20.39), Shannon McDermott (27th, 20.54), Kenna Perez (28th, 20.55), and Dhanlay Morales (43rd, 21.52) enabled the women to place fifth overall, a mere nine points out of fourth and 16 points from the third position.
"It's always a very good day when every kid runs a seasonal or lifetime best," commented head coach Tony Veney. "Both men and women's teams have slowly but surely learned how to run together and it shows in our times and differential when compared to the other teams in the conference.
"Boyle's run was exciting, but he still has more in the tank and the next three weeks of training will hopefully yield a better performance next month. We also have a few nicks and dings to take care of so the next several weeks will help us get healthy at just the right time."