Gil, Warriors Win Men’s Race; Hoffman Sixth in Women’s at Golden West Invitational
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – For the third straight race, the El Camino College men's cross country team came away with a victory at the Golden West Invitational Friday at Central Park.
The Warriors dominated the 13-team race on the men's side, sweeping the top three spots and posting a score of 21, 73 points better than second-place Riverside. For the third straight week, a Warriors runner took home first place but, for the first time this season, it was not Carson Bix crossing the finish line first.
Freshman Manny Gil scored his first career victory, crossing the finish line in 21:08. Ethan Comeaux was close behind in second place at 21:15 with Bix crossing just after him at 21:16. Overall, the Warriors had five of their seven runners finish in the top-10. Matt Arruda placed sixth with a time of 21:29 and Alberto Aguilar placed ninth at 21:45.
On the women's side, Grace Hoffman paced the Warriors for the second straight week with an eight-place finish, crossing the line in 20:24 at the 3.2 mile course. Sarah Simpson finished in 13th with a time of 21:02 while Carmen Hernandez (22:05) and Deana Takaoka (22:59) rounded out the ECC field.
As a team, the Warriors took only four runners to the meet and thus did not qualify for a team score.
The teams will be back in action on Saturday at The Masters Invitational held at Central Park in Santa Clarita, Calif. It is a meet that will likely feature an all-University field including 25 NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA teams.
