SportsCross Country

Perkins leads team in SCIAC meet

Neither rain, shine nor a foggy morning will keep the La Verne cross-country team from running. One man running alone, freshman Ernie Cambrone paces his way around the course at El Prado Park. Throughout the season, the team’s runners have been improving their individual times, but their overall ranking has yet to improve. / photo by Veero Der-Karabetian
Neither rain, shine nor a foggy morning will keep the La Verne cross-country team from running. One man running alone, freshman Ernie Cambrone paces his way around the course at El Prado Park. Throughout the season, the team’s runners have been improving their individual times, but their overall ranking has yet to improve. / photo by Veero Der-Karabetian

by Andrea Gardner
Staff Writer

Despite an improvement in individual times, the University of La Verne cross country team made a disappointing finish at the SCIAC Championships at Prado Park on Saturday.

“The times were good, but compared to the other teams, I was a little disappointed,” said Head Coach Pat Widolff.

The women placed seventh, beating Cal Lutheran, while the men’s team finished last.

La Verne competed against Whittier, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Occidental, Caltech, Pomona-Pitzer, Redlands and Cal Lu.

Top finishers for the men were sophomore William Donald, who placed 31st with a time of 28:19, and junior Gilbert Gomez, who placed 33rd with a time of 28:31.

Top finishers for the women were junior Kelly Perkins, who finished 33rd with a time of 21:37, and freshman Stephanie Lesniak, who placed 39th with a time of 22:05.

Other finishers for the men were sophomore Brian Ward, 42nd, 29:03; junior Jose Barba, 55th, 30:05; sophomore Manuel Estrada, 58th, 30:54; freshman Jeremy Gonzales, 62nd, 31:47; and freshman Ernie Cambrone, 78th, 37:44.

For the women, placing in the top 50 were junior Julia Meiss, 43rd, 22:15; freshman Eren Piceno, 22:25; and freshman Lyn Merrill, 50th, 22:35.

Beyond the 50 mark, freshman Jessica Rios placed 54th with a time of 22:47; freshman Jamie Corley, 55th, 22:52; sophomore Veronica Mendez, 59th, 23:07; freshman Kenia Magallanes, 60th, 23:10; junior Beverly Wilson, 64th, 23:39; and freshman Jackie Serrano, 72nd, 24:24.

Much like in the SCIAC 8-Way meet at La Mirada, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won the women’s meet, and Occidental dominated the men’s competition.

Widolff was pleased with the individual performances of his team, despite the loss. “Our runners ran hard. They did the best they could and I was happy about that,” he said.

As the season winds down, the runners will focus on the most important meet, the NCAA Regionals, which will be held Nov. 11 in San Diego.

In looking at the past season, Widolff said, “Timewise, there’s been some steady improvement; we just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Andrea Gardner, Managing Editor
Andrea Gardner
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