The men’s and women’s cross-country teams took third and fifth in their meets last Friday, Oct. 11, at the Irvine Brubaker Invitational.

The men are now ranked fifth in the State, and the women are currently in fourteenth place.

“I felt that we were well prepared for this meet, and if we keep working together, we can place in a higher rank,” runner Xitlalic Canchola said.

“This meet was competitive, usually like all other meets,” Head Coach Dean Lofgren said.

The men placed right behind one of the the top ranked schools, San Bernardino Valley College, who scored only 18 points.

“Although we were without teammates Michael Nakahara and Tyler Caracoza due to class obligations, it may not have been enough for us to secure second place, but it would have been excitingly closer,” Lofgren said.

Sophomore Reo Miranda-Lavertu led the Warriors, placing ninth (20:50) out of the field of 10 teams in the four mile course, and was followed closely by Tomas Snur who finished 11th place (20:58). Freshman Teddy Kassa (21st; 21:31), Israel Cardona (23rd; 21:41), and Brennan Megeff (26th; 21:53) rounded up the Warriors top finishers for this week.

The women’s team also showed their skills in their 3.2 mile course.

“Freshman Haley Heinemann continues to impress in the course with her solid sixth place finish (19:46),” said Lofgren.

“I feel our team is stepping up at times when they need to be during the race,” Canchola said.

She led closely behind Heinemann, placing 14th (20:24), and Sophomore Nicole Sroczynski followed suit, finishing in 22nd place (20:55). Allison Chapman (24th; 21:00) and freshman Mandi Johnson (48th; 26:32) tallied up the top five scorers for the women.

“Moving forward into the season, we want to try and stay healthy, because a lot of our girls become injured here and there,” Canchola said.

The Warriors next meet will take place in the Mt. SAC Invitational this coming Friday, Oct. 18.