Gauchos 16th at SoCal Preview

Gauchos 16th at SoCal Preview

The Saddleback men's cross country team finished in 15th place at the SoCal Preview Meet in Cerritos on Friday.  The Gauchos were fourth among programs from the Orange Empire Conference.

Saddleback took to the hills against some of the top competition in the state on Friday, running against 34 other programs from around the state.  The Gauchos sent five runners out on Friday, finishing a respectable 16th overall and 15th among community college programs. 

Freshman Julian Lasting led the way for Saddleback, finishing in 67th place in the team competition when he crossed the finish line of the 4-mile trek in 21:36.7.  He was just 18 seconds away from a top-50 finish in a race with 313 total harriers.

Lasting was followed closely by sophomore teammate Scott Hickman, who ran 71st in the team competition with a time of 21:42.0.  One other top-80 finisher for Saddleback was freshman Sebastian Arias, who ran 76th in the team competition with a time of 21:48.9. 

Other Orange Empire Conference programs at the SoCal Preview included Riverside (4th), Orange Coast (10th), Santa Ana (12th), Fullerton (22nd), Golden West (no team score) and Santiago Canyon (no team score).

Saddleback will compete again next Friday at the Golden West Invitational.  Race time is scheduled for 10:00 AM at Central Park in Huntington Beach.