Glendale, Moorpark Win WSC Cross-Country Titles

Hugo Allan Garcia of Glendale College and Tricia Mathiesen of Moorpark led their respective teams to victory in the Western State Conference cross-country finals at Moorpark on Tuesday.

Garcia, who has won seven of his eight races this season, smashed his course record by 1 minute 6 seconds with a time of 19:48 over four miles. Teammate Obed Aguirre placed second in 20:14 as the Vaqueros totaled 32 points.

Bakersfield placed second with 38 points, followed by Ventura with 77.

Mathiesen finished second in the women’s race as Moorpark put five runners in the top nine to score 21 points. Glendale (76 points), Valley (84) and Ventura (86) rounded out the top four.

The WSC men’s and women’s champions qualify for the Southern California regional at Irvine Park in Tustin on Nov. 9.

Glendale and Moorpark completed a sweep of this year’s three WSC scoring meets. Tuesday’s results counted toward half of the WSC team championships; the first two meets each accounted for 25%.

Garcia and Aguirre ran together for the first three miles before Garcia broke away.

Fred Mirzaian (sixth in 21:14), Oscar Perez (11th in 21:51) and Rick Provenzano (12th in 21:54) rounded out the scoring for Glendale, which won its second WSC title in the past three years.

Eugenia Paramo of Oxnard ran 19:06 to win the 5,000-meter women’s race, with Mathiesen a distant second in 19:47.

The Raiders’ other scorers were Leticia Melgoza (fourth in 19:54), Brid Power (fifth in 20:14), Pam Fuller (eighth in 20:36), and Noelle Righter (ninth in 20:41).