Gauchos 9th at SoCal Preview
The Saddleback men's cross country team finished ninth at the Southern California Preview Meet on Friday in Santa Clarita. The Gauchos had all seven harriers finish in the top-100 in one of the biggest meets of the year.
Saddleback was coming off a fine performance at Palomar last week and had an opportunity to face all of the top competition in the southern half of the state on Friday in Santa Clarita. The Gauchos had an encouraging finish, with all seven runners finishing between 51st and 93rd in the team competition.
The race featured 305 total runners and freshman Brody Ray led the way for Saddleback, covering the 4-mile trek in 22:53.0. His finish was good enough for 51st in the team competition and 67th overall. Ray was followed closely by freshman Nicholas Dorsett, who was 57th (team) and 78th (overall) with a time of 23:03.0. Sophomore Jacob King was right on his heels with a finishing time of 23:03.7.
Saddleback was second among programs from the Orange Empire Conference as Riverside City College finished third in team competition. Santa Ana finished in 10th place while Fullerton was 19th and Orange Coast 20th. Mt. San Antonio College captured the team title on Friday.
Saddleback will compete again next Friday at Central Park in Huntington Beach at the Golden West Invitational. Race time is scheduled for 10:00 AM.