Story by Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information  

College of the Canyons made its way to the annual Oxnard Invitational on Friday with both the men’s and women’s teams bringing home a sixth-place finish.

For a second week in a row, freshman Katelyn Catu crossed the line first for the Lady Cougars, finishing in 10th place with a time of 19:43.6, nearly a minute faster than last week’s run at the Moorpark College Invitational.

Canyons freshman Kaiya Cortinas was next in the 19th spot recording a time of 20.28.8 on the 5K course on the campus of Oxnard College. COC sophomore Emily Cruz (21:44.8) came through as the 40th runner in the field of 85.She was soon followed by Emily Fairbanks (23:02.8/54th) and Emily Valdez (24.02.8/60th)

Mt. San Antonio College took first in the team standings with 22 points, followed by Cerritos College (83), Glendale College (97) and Allan Hancock College (98). The host Condors took the fifth spot at 112 with Canyons next at 121.

On the men’s side, it was Canyons sophomore Cesar Tobar leading the Cougars and nabbing the 18th spot in the field of 127 runners at a time of 21:31.4 on the four-mile course.

COC sophomore Sam Regez (22:12.3/32nd) was not far behind that pace, with freshman Cougar Jack Eaton trailing (22:33.7/45th). Juan Jimenez-Rojas finished nearly a minute behind Eaton (65th/23:34.8) with freshman Nathaniel Wilkinson at his heals (23.34.8/67th), improving his time from last week by a solid 50 seconds.

Jerome Hughes (23:56.4/71st), Fernando Osorio (24:14.1/76th) and Elijah Dixon (25:44.8/97th) all competed for the Cougars but had their times dropped from the final team score.

Mt. SAC (27) also took first on the men’s side finishing in front of Bakersfield College (52) and Glendale (105) in the third spot. College of the Sequoias (107) ran to fourth with Cerritos (147) in fifth and COC (153) taking sixth.

Canyons will see the start line again Friday, Sept. 15 at the 3C2A SoCal Preview at El Dorado East Regional Park in Long Beach, CA. The women’s race is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. with the men’s set to follow.