Glendale, Occidental Seek Cross-Country Titles

Hugo Allan Garcia of Glendale College and Marcial Beltran of Occidental will lead their teams into the state junior college and NCAA Division III cross-country championships, respectively, today.

The state meet will be held at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, starting with the women’s three-mile race at 9 a.m.. The Division III meet will be held at Oakland Acres Golf Course in Grinnell, Iowa, beginning with the men’s 8,000-meter event at 11 a.m. (CST).

Garcia, from Guatemala, will be favored in his race. He has won eight of nine races this season.

Beltran, a native of Mexico, led Occidental to victory in the Division III West regional at Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas last week, setting his fourth course record of the season. Teammates Emmet Hogan and Jose Garcia placed second and third.

The Tiger women also qualified, winning last week behind Laurie Schuster’s individual victory.

Moorpark, led by Tricia Mathiesen, will be gunning for a top-five finish at the state meet. Oxnard’s Gina Paramo is looking for a similar result among individual runners.