Del Toro makes historic run for Long Beach
The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level.
Rosa Del Toro (Glendale Community College, 2010) senior, Long Beach State cross-country: A former standout at Glendale Community College who aided the Vaqueros ascent to state glory, Del Toro put her name into the Long Beach history books as she ran to a Big West cross-country individual title Saturday.
The 49er standout took first in the women’s 6K run upon the UC Riverside Agricultural Course in a time of 20 minutes 27 seconds.
In the process, she became the first individual in the history of the program to take home a Big West conference title. Her time — which gave her a six-second win — was also a new school record.
Del Toro’s teammate, Nina Moore, another former GCC runner, took 11th at the conference championships as Long Beach took second behind UC Davis. Moore’s 21:07.3 mark was also a personal-best.
“Very exciting day,” 49er Coach Patrick Cunniff told the school’s website. “Clearly a sign that our program is taking the right steps forward. To have Rosa win an individual title represents us in a great way and we’re incredibly proud on how she ran.”
In the men’s 8K race, Crescenta Valley High graduate Brett Matejka was 22nd overall for a fifth-place UC Irvine squad. Matejka was his team’s No. 2 runner at 24:42.3.
Dietrich Riley (St. Francis High, 2010) sophomore, UCLA football: As his Bruins were putting the finishing touches on a bounce back win over Cal at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, Riley suffered a scare, as he was carted off the field with a neck injury. But, according to a report from ESPNLosAngeles.com, the safety was released from Huntington Hospital and was with the team for film sessions Sunday afternoon.
“Everything has checked out fine,” UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “He was here today and looked great and says he’s ready to go. The doctors want to be careful and they’ll look at him tomorrow and we’ll see about his availability for this week, but to hear Dietrich and to see Dietrich, you’d say he’s going to be just fine.”
Riley recorded five tackles (four solo) in the 31-14 win over the Golden Bears, which saw the Bruins improve to 4-4 and 3-2 in the Pacific-12 Conference coming off a 48-12 loss at Arizona the week prior. He made a tackle on Cal running back Isi Sofele with 10:41 left in the fourth quarter and remained on the ground for several minutes before being removed on a stretcher, although he was moving his arms and gave a hand signal to the home crowd, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Brian Trejo (Hoover High, 2009) junior, San Francisco State cross-country: The former All-Pacific League standout was the Gators’ No. 3 finisher as his team took second at the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Cross-Country Championships on Oct. 22 at Spring Lake Regional Park in Santa Rosa.
In the 8K run, Trejo finished 18th overall in 26:39.4.
On Saturday, Trejo and Co. will take to the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships in Washington.
Erin Hartwig (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2009) junior, Santa Clara cross-country: Hartwig ran a personal-best 22:42 to finish 35th as her team’s No. 3 finisher at the West Coast Conference Cross-Country Championships on Saturday in Belmont.
The 6K race saw Santa Clara finish seventh as a team.
“Erin Hartwig and Carey Parker really stepped it up for us today. Without them it would have been really rough,” Bronco assistant coach Chantelle Wilder told the school’s website. “It’s a tough course and it’s only the second time we have run 6K all season. I am not thrilled with how we placed but I think we finished where we expected. It’s cool to be a part of one of the best conferences in the nation. Our team’s got to see what it’s going to be like to run regionals in a couple weeks. It’s not going to be tougher, but it’s going to be a lot deeper.”