Pirate Cross Country Previews State Course in Fresno

The VC men's and women's cross country teams previewed the 3C2A State Championship course in Fresno Saturday morning at the Seawolf Invitational hosted by Sonoma State University. Competing against mostly NCAA Division II athletes, Brianna Torres finished 27th of 74 runners while Jonah Sloan paced the Ventura men in 37th place out of 85 competitors.

Torres was the only Pirate female in the field as she ran virtually the same time she did a year ago on the 5k course at Woodward Park, crossing the finish line in 20:07.

Sloan led the Pirate men covering the four-mile run in 23:19 to place 37th, earning 35 team points for VC. Kevin Ramirez was next for Ventura, 10 places behind Sloan, posting a 23:53 mark for 42 team points. Other Pirate runners included Mason Jekogian (50th, 23:55, 43 points), Carlos Oregel (54th, 24:13, 46 points), Ivan Aleman (57th, 24:31, 47 points), Nathaniel Lopez (68th, 25:58, 52 points), Eduardo Juarez-Cuevas (69th, 26:14, 53 points) and Colin Crisostomo (80th, 28:59).

Sonoma State won the women's team competition while Cal State Stanislaus won the men's team race.

The Pirates next run at the Southern California Preview Meet on Friday Sept. 20 at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga.