Community College Cross-Country : Grossmont Wins the Fastest State Meet

Grossmont won the men’s team competition in the State Junior College Cross-Country Meet at Woodward Park in Fresno Saturday as 27 runners broke the 20-minute mark, making this the fastest run in the history of the state meet.

With 41 points, Grossmont edged second-place Taft (55). They were the schools expected to vie for the title. Pasadena was third with 112 points, followed Sequoia (133) and Mira Costa (136).

Alphonce Swai of Santa Monica set a course record for the four-mile race, winning in 19:11.5. Martin Sandoval of Grossmont was second in 19:15 and Jody Fischer of Taft third in 19:18.

Local finishers included David Miller of Fullerton, who finished 31st with a time of 20:01, Dave Parsel of Orange Coast, 34th (20:03), Sergio Ocadiz of Rancho Santiago, 45th (20:15), Sal Vargas of OCC, 46th (20:15), and Jamie LaGrande of Fullerton, 48th (20:18).

In the women’s race, Los Angeles Valley won the team competition with 83 points, followed by Mira Costa (87) and Foothill (102).

Silvia Mosqueda of East Los Angeles set a course record for the 5-kilometer race, winning in 17:06.6. She was followed by Kim Stewart of Los Angeles Valley (17:13) and Kathy Kiernan of OCC (17:32).

Other county finishers included Deidre Vaughan of Saddleback, 38th (19:13), Laura Lazo of OCC, 52nd (19:29), and Kelly Miller of Rancho Santiago, 61st (19:36).

Runners from county schools were not participating in team scoring for this meet.