Pirate Harriers Finish Strong at State Championships

The Ventura College women's cross country team completed their team goal for the year, competing at the CCCAA State Cross Country Championships, held at Woodward Park in Fresno Saturday morning. In a fiercely contested team battle won by Mt. San Antonio, the Pirates placed 22nd out of 28 teams, putting the cap on a successful season.

Jordyn Vassaur lead the Pirates as she placed 87th (in 20.12) out of 197 finishers ahead of Maria Villalobos (109th - 20.31), Brigitte Kiesewetter (116th - 20.33), Alexi Tolosa (136th - 20.54), Megan Kearney (151st - 21.11), Brittany Gonzalez (154th - 21.14), and Amanda Gomez (169th - 21.54).

The Pirates had a time differential of less than 60 seconds between the first and fifth runner (a 60 second gap is considered most desirable) which was one of the best team gap finishes of the season.

"The state meet is a real 'Meat Grinder'," commented head coach Tony Veney. "The early pace was faster than anything we saw all year, but the young women were unafraid and went out hard and hung in all the way to the finish."

Aside from making it to the state meet, four current members (Tolosa, Gonzalez, Villalobos, and Kiesewetter) and two 2013 sophomores (Sabrina Sewell and Maria Conchola) were named Academic All-State for maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher during the 2013-14 academic year, in awards announced during the season.

Results from Saturday's state championships are on www.Norcalstat.com.