College of the Canyons cross country competed at the annual Crush Invitational meet hosted by Clovis Community College on Saturday, Sept. 6, with the Cougars using the opportunity to gain a preview of the course that will host the 3C2A State Championships in November.

COC’s  women’s team finished seventh in the field of 15 schools, but was sixth among community college squads. The Canyons men’s team placed 11th among the 23 team entries, good for 10th in the grouping of two-year schools.

Fresno Pacific University, the lone four-year program entered in the event, won both the men’s and women’s races.

COC’s women’s team was also third among 3C2A southern region programs and tops among the three Western State Conference teams entered in the race. The Cougars’ men’s team placed fifth among Southern California schools but was first among the four WSC schools.

Sophomore Victoria Jamison continued to run strong for the Cougars, finishing the 5K course at Woodward Park in 19:45.77, good for 16th in the field of 155 runners. That pace was sixth amongst runners from the SoCal region.

COC’s next four runners passed the finish line in a shared grouping that included Jazlene Herreres (54th / 21:28.42), Lilianna Moreira (55th / 21:29.68), Alyssa Arriaga (66th / 21:53.67) and Ruby Salazar (71st / 22:06.81) all scoring for Canyons. Andrea Fernandez (105th / 23:59.04) had her time dropped from the final scoring.

The Cougars featured Alejandro Cueto in the top spot of its men’s team, with the freshman clocking a time of 21:39.01 to place 23rd in the field of more then 250 entrants.

Freshman Josue Lopez ran to a 30th place result at a time of 21:43.77 with Spencer Easterbrook (93rd / 23:04.01) rounding out COC’s top three. Noah Flores (119th / 23:35.01) and Nathan Parras (24:07.90) also scored for the Cougars.

Canyons also ran Nick Sawyer (186th / 25:33.91), Jacob Franco (198th / 25:53.65), Neil Aspert (205th / 26:12.27) and Josh Smith (227th / 27:43.41) at the event.

COC has sent both its men’s and women’s teams to compete at the annual 3C2A State Championship in back-to-back years and will be looking to repeat that feat in 2025. The state meet is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 22.

Up next, Canyons will run at the WSC Preview being hosted by Ventura College on Friday, Sept. 12, at Arroyo Verde Park. The women’s race is set to begin at 10 a.m. with the men to follow at 11 a.m.

Women’s Results (5K):
V. Jamison (16th – 19:45.77); Herreres (54th – 21:28.42); L. Moreira (55th – 21:29.68); A. Arriaga (66th – 21:53.67); R. Salazar (71st – 22:06.81); A. Fernandez (105th – 23:59.04)

Men’s Results (4-mile)
A. Cueto (23rd – 21:39.01); J. Lopez (30th – 21:43.77); S. Easterbrook (93rd – 23:04.1); N. Flores (119th – 23:35.01); N. Parras (147th – 24:07.90); N. Sawyer (186th – 25:33.91); J. Franco (198th – 25:53.65); N. Aspert (205th – 26:12.17); J. Smith (227th – 27:43.41)

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by visiting COCAthletics.com and on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.