Pirates Run at SoCal Preview in Van Nuys

The Ventura men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Southern California Preview, a precursor to the state qualifier in November, at Woodley Park in Van Nuys. The Pirate women turned in a solid race, tying for ninth place of the 31 competing teams, while the VC men finished 23rd of the 29 teams.

The Pirate women tied for ninth, which sets them up nicely for a trip back to the state championships in Fresno in November the top 14 teams at the SoCal Final November 7 advance from the SoCal. Maria Villalobos (42nd – 20:15), Jordyn Vassaur (56th – 20:29), Alexi Tolosa (71st – 20:49), Amanda Gomez (76th – 21:00), Brittany Gonzalez (77th – 21:01), Brigitte Kiesewetter (80th – 21:10), and Shannon McDermott (110th – 22:14) ran times a little slower than Rio Hondo two weeks ago, but the time between the first through fifth runners dropped over 20 seconds from their last competition.

"We ran without Megan Kearney today, who ran in the top spot at Rio Hondo, but this group of young women showed great resolve and made a statement concerning how good we can be in several weeks," said head coach Tony Veney.

The men's team was led by Anthony Rivas (71st – 21:48), with Brett Bogdanski (124th – 22:35), Alexis Miron (135th – 22:48), Jaime Luna (140th – 22:52), Thomas McKenna (143 – 22:56), Paul Gonzalez (152nd – 23:13) and Thomas Garcia (186th – 24:44) rounding out the top seven team finishers over the four mile course. The Pirate men place 23rd of the 29 teams. There were over 215 men competing in the top-7 race. The Men's second race saw Vincent Chavez (24:20), Matthew Medina (24:46), Christian Rodriquez (25:26), and Edgar Cerda (26:28), run, but no team scoring was kept.

"The men in the top-7 race had a rough day," said head coach Tony Veney. "We needed to score under 500 points and placed in the top 16 teams (the pirate men scored 612 points and placed 23rd) to make our path to state advancement easier. The young men have a lot to work on in the next six weeks, but I have great confidence we can make the necessary adjustments."

The Pirates travel north next Friday, Sept. 26, for the Bakersfield Invitational. The women will run at 3:00 with the men going at 4:00pm.

See Men's Top-7 Results
See Women's Results
See Men's "B" Results