by David Sutton
Staff Writer
The University of La Verne’s cross country team traveled to Newport Beach to compete in the Southern California College (SCC) Invitational last Saturday.
The women ran well enough to take first place for the second time in two meets. They out-ran Fresno Pacific, SCC, Whittier College and Concordia.
Sophomore Jill Perkins won the women’s individual title with a time of 20:13.
“Jill ran a great race,” said Head Coach Pat Widolff.
Junior Monica Patino placed ninth with a time of 21:18 and sophomore Kelly Perkins placed 14th in 21:59.
Sophomore Maria Esqueda ran a personal best of 22:16 to place 16th overall.
The men’s team didn’t run as well as it hoped to and placed third out of the six schools.
“The heat took its toll on our men,” said Widolff.
Sophomore Gilbert Gomez was the men’s top runner with a time of 29:23, finishing eighth overall.
“This week I just felt confident and relaxed. My teammates encouraged me a lot in this race. They just kept pushing me,” said Gomez.
Ninth place went to Junior Brian Ward with a time of 29:39.
The team will compete in the SCIAC eight-way duel meet tomorrow in La Mirada on the same course the Leos won the Biola Invitational. This meet and the conference championships are the only two SCIAC conference meets for the season.
