Both the Ventura College men's and women's cross country teams qualified for the SoCal Regionals on Friday with strong showings at the Western State Conference Championships. Running at Legg Lake Park in South El Monte, the Pirate men were fourth overall in the conference while the women came in sixth. Stina Johansson led the women with a runner-up finish on the 5k course while Isaiah Slagboom was the lead Pirate for the men placing 7th over 4 miles.
The VC men, who are currently ranked No. 11 in SOuthern California, placed fourth of the 14 participating teams with 100 points. Moorpark won the meet with 38 points followed by Glendale (44), Bakersfield (74) and VC. Cuesta was fifth with 134 points.
Slagbloom covered the 4-mile course in 20:04 to claim seventh place overall out of 93 participants. Alex Canales finished 15th (20:46) and Ramiro Mateos was 24th (21:08, 22 points). Other Pirate runners included Sahit Jimenez (28th, 21:17, 25 pts.), Matthew Siroky (37th, 21:51, 31 pts.), Noah Castro (47th, 22:31, 34 pts.), Xavier Terminello (54th, 23:01, 38 pts.), Isaiah Spence (66th, 23:43) and Gabriel Olivares (74th, 24:41).
The women, meanwhile, finished sixth overall with 120 points, edging out No. 12-ranked Oxnard, who posted 130 points. Glendale (64 points), Cuesta (76) and Canyons (79) finished in the top three in the team competition.
Johansson continued her strong season with another runner-up finish, running the 5k course in 18:24, 22 seconds behind first but 51 seconds ahead of third. Brenda garcia came in 18th place overall (20:26, 17 points) while Alexandra Sanchez was 22nd (20:33, 21 points). Other VC women running included Alexa Hernandez (45th, 24:09, 39 pts.), Talia Steve (47th, 24:48, 41 pts.), Alyna Zarate (55th, 26:14, 46 pts.) and Leslie Cervantes (57th, 26:28, 47 pts.). A total of 65 runners participated in the women's race.
"We are pleased to have both teams advance their seasons onto the Southern California Regionals with a chance to earn a spot at the State Championships" said head coach Martin Maciel.
Ventura will travel to the SoCal Regional Championships on Friday Nov. 5. The races will be held at Irvine regional Park in Orange.