El Camino College Men and Women’s Team Qualify for CCCAA State Championships.
SANTA CLARITA, Calif - Both El Camino College Men and Women's Cross Country Teams ran solid races on Friday's Southern California Regional Championships to qualify for the CCCAA State Championships.
The ECC Women squad were ranked #11 in Southern California heading into the race, and they finished in 11th place at the meet. Out of the fourteen teams that qualified, El Camino College was one of the four squads to qualify from the South Coast Conference.
Freshman Savannah Sehenuk led the Warriors with a 21st place finish clocking in at 20:07 in the 5,000m race featuring 187 runners. Deanna Takaoka came in 45th place clocking in at 20:45 and Brianna Harmon came in at 62nd place finishing at 21:18. Sarah Simpson came in 84th place at 21:47 and Jasmine Guzman ran 31:22 to round up the top-5 for ECC.
The men's squad came in to the race tied for the fifth and sixth place team. The men placed exactly in sixth place in a field of 28 teams. El Camino College was one of four South Coast Conference teams to finish in the top seven places and advance to the state championships.
Michael Yaskowitz narrowly outran his fellow teammate Carson Bix to lead the Warriors in an "All-Southern-California" finish. Yaskowitz finished in seventh place at 21:22 and Bix came in right behind him in eighth place at 21:33. Matt Arruda (46th place; 22:24), Caleb Ko (52nd place; 22:27), and Brian Huang (98th place; 23:10) rounded out the top-5 racers for ECC. Cole Goldman (110th place; 23:21) and Brandon Martin (111th place; 23:24) also ran for the Warriors.
The ECC cross country teams will race in next Saturday's CCCAA State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno, Calif.
Notes: In Dean Lofgren's 29 years at the helm of the cross country teams, the men have advanced to the state championships in all 29 years. The Women have advanced 28 times to the state championship, with last year being the only time they did not qualify.