Glendale college women fall short of state podium
FRESNO — It was a bittersweet moment for Glendale Community College sophomore Angelica Salas as she approached the podium at the California Community College Athletic Assn. state cross-country finals Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.
For the second straight season, Salas earned All-American honors, finishing the women’s 5-kilometer race in fourth place in 18 minutes, 31.5 seconds.
But Salas was the only member of the Vaqueros women’s team to be recognized on the podium this year. For the first time since 2004, Glendale -- the two-time defending state champions -- didn’t finish in the top three at the state final, ending one of the most prestigious streaks in CCCAA history.
Mt. San Antonio College won its first team title since 2014 with 93 points as GCC finished fifth with 147 points, trailing Cuyamaca (95), Ventura (103) and L.A. Harbor (121).
“I’m very much a team person and have been since the start,” Salas said. “I would have given anything for my team to stand up there, but it just didn’t happen. It’s disappointing, but at the end of the day, I’m hoping me doing well today will motivate the freshmen to do well next year.”
Glendale’s men’s team also came up short of the podium with a sixth-place run, but Raymond Lopez and Phillip Thomas earned All-American honors, finishing in second and seventh, respectively.
College of the Sequoias’ Alyssa Block, runner-up last year, was the women’s champion at 17:43 with L.A. Harbor’s Brenda Rosales (18:12.7) and Riverside’s Sarah Hollis (18:25.5) rounding out the top three in front of Salas.
“It’s a such young team that returns next year and [I hope they will] look back on today at their performances, as well as my own, and improve upon themselves,” said Salas, who improved from 11th last year in 18:40.6.
Nona Boyajyan finished 25th (19:23.6), Agnes Kirakosian was 40th (19:44.7), Genesis Siam-Alvarez took 41st (19:45.5) and Jennifer Cazares-Perez placed 53rd (19:55.6) to round out GCC’s scoring.
“We had good workouts, but we just didn’t stay focused,” Glendale coach Eddie Lopez said. “We have standards in this program to finish in the top in state. You can’t worry about anything else except your schoolwork and racing. It’s part of being a student-athlete.”
In the men’s race, Lopez covered the 4-mile course in 20:22.3 and Thomas clocked 20:32.2 for the Vaqueros, who finished sixth with 175 points.
Mt. SAC’s Manny Fernandez won at 20:06.8 as the Mounties became the first program to win both team titles in the same season since Orange Coast College in 2004. It was Mt. SAC’s first sweep since 1989.
“All-American status is something a few people get to achieve, so it’s a real honor to be able to stand on the podium,” Thomas said. “It means a lot to be able to earn it. That’s the reason we came up here was to improve.”
For Raymond Lopez, who was bidding to become Glendale’s first men’s champion since Allan Garcia in 1990, it was a big improvement after finishing 28th at last year’s final.
“I missed out big time on the All-American spot last year, so to be able to come back this year and get it, it means a lot,” he said. “To finally achieve it feels good and it’s something I will carry over into the track season. I’m happy I gave it my all today.”
Akol Malong placed 35th (21:15.9), Carlos Rivera was 63rd (21:40.4) and Antonio Arroyo finished 90th (22:03.8) for Glendale.
“When we ran well in practice, you have to be able to convert that into a race,” Eddie Lopez said. “We had good workouts and we were still peaking and it shows with Angie, Raymond and Phillip’s results today. I don’t think we were ready to race mentally today at the state meet. It shows in the results.”