Knobbe fourth at OEC Finals

The Saddleback women's cross country team finished up the team portion of the season on Friday at the Orange Empire Conference Finals at Clark Park in Buena Park.  Olivia Knobbe led the Bobcats with a fourth place finish in the race.

Hampered by untimely injuries Saddleback didn't have enough racers to challenge for the team championship, but did have a number of solid performances in individual competition.  Knobbe was at the top of the heap, finishing fourth overall.

Knobbe finished the 5k race in 21:10.1 and was just 16.9 seconds off the pace set by Riverside City's Briana Rodriguez.  Along with her finish, she earned Orange Empire Conference First Team recognition.

In order to make the first team a runner has to finish in the top seven in the race. That made things interesting for the pack behind Knobbe, which included two more Bobcats.

The duo of Shaelynn Barbieri and Bradi Steinhardt helped each other throughout the race, finishing in sixth and seventh place, respectively, to both make the first team.  Barbieri finished in 21:59.8 while Steinhardt crossed the finish line in 22:13.1.

Riverside City College captured the team title.