San Luis Obispo, CA (Cross Country) – After some strong finishes at the 2006 Cross Country WSC Championships, both the men’s and women’s squads for Citrus College have qualified for the SoCal Championships this week hosted by Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, CA.
The men’s squad was able to grab an automatic berth into the SoCal championships by finishing 6th out of 13 teams. The Fighting Owl’s were bolstered by Frank Aldar and Hector Cordova who finished 22nd and 23rd place respectively in San Luis. Aldar and Cordova both clocked a time of 23:09 in a tightly contested race. Vincent Delgado and Pierre Moreno both finished in the top 50 in 41st and 46th place.
On the women’s side, the Lady Owl’s were able to build upon a strong finish, finishing in 9th place out of the 13 WSC teams. While the Lady Owl’s didn’t grab an automatic berth, they were able to garner enough attention to receive an at-large bid for the SoCal Championships. Christina Soto was 
first through the finish line for the Lady Owl’s with a time of 22:52 good enough for 37th place. Gina Woosley was right behind her with a time of 23:14 and 40th place. The only other Lady Owl to finish in the top 50 was Nathalie Valentin who ran a time of 24:25 and took 50th place.
If the Fighting Owls can perform as well as they have throughout the season, they may stand a chance of qualifying for the State Championships in Fresno on November 18th. The races for the SoCal Championships will begin at 3:00 pm this Friday November 3rd. The race will be held at the Lancaster National Soccer Center in Lancaster, CA.