COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : OCC Cross-Country Teams Finish Second

Riverside College, paced by a strong finish by its first five runners, held off Orange Coast to win the Orange Empire Conference women’s cross-country title Tuesday at Irvine Regional Park.

Orange Coast’s Christy Melton won the five-kilometer race with a time of 18 minutes 1.89 seconds, and Mari Benavides (18:32.61) was second for OCC. But Riverside runners took the next five places and beat Orange Coast, 25 to 40.

The two teams’ order of finish was repeated in the men’s race; Riverside won with 33 points and Orange Coast was second with 52.

While the men’s result had been expected, the women’s race was surprisingly lopsided. Orange Coast beat Riverside both times the teams met this season and the margin of victory was only one point each time.

On Tuesday, although Melton and Benavides were unchallenged during most of the race, Riverside dominated the rest of the field. Riverside women’s coach Dave Murphy said he thought Orange Coast was winning at the two-mile mark. But in the final mile, three Riverside runners passed Orange Coast’s third finisher, Sherri Fox (10th, 20:00.81).

“I’ve never seen a team come on that strong in the last mile,” Murphy said.

In the men’s race, Isaac Silva of Cypress ran a quick first mile and led the pack by about 10 seconds. But Riverside’s Melford Homela, a native of Zimbabwe, ran him down and won the four-mile race in 20:07.68. Silva was second in 20:17.61.

The Riverside men’s and women’s teams automatically qualify for the Southern California championships, which Orange Coast will play host to Nov. 9 at Irvine Park. Orange Coast probably will be one of the eight at-large teams to qualify.