Alex Ceballos' Gold Medal Finish Highlights Men's & Women's Cross Country at Coach Downey Classic

The Long Beach City College men's and women's cross country teams produced great results last Friday at the Coach Downey Classic by hauling in numerous season best. Sophomore Alex Ceballos (Long Beach, CA) highlighted the Viking efforts by snapping the tape for a first place finish and leading her team to a first-place finish as well. The men earned their best finish on the season as well by placing fourth overall. 

Ceballos continues to act as one of the most poised runners in the field by earning her inaugural first-place finish on the season. She cruised the trails to earn a sub-20 minute time with a 19:59.1 mark, which was 31 seconds better than the second-place finisher. The second-place finisher was her teammate, freshman Destiny Diaz (Bellflower, CA), who earned an overall time of 21:34.9 with an average mile time of 6:56.7. 

Freshman Ocean Sandoval (Hawaiian Gardens, CA) completed the top-five by crossing the finish line at a 22:35.1 mark with an average mile mark of 7:16.1. Sophomore Melissa Higueros (Compton, CA) and freshman Malika Spencer (Los Angeles, CA) finished seventh and ninth, respectfully. 

For the men, sophomore Taylor Leon (Downey, CA) continued to produce positive results by placing 10th overall with a time of 24:02.6. His mile mark pace of 6:00.7 helped him reach that time. Sophomore Willie Jenkins (Compton, CA) earned the spot of 15th overall after trotting his way to a mark of 24:35.5 and an average mile time of 6:08.9.

Freshman Jesus Cortes (Los Angeles, CA) was nipping at Jenkins' heels by placing 16th with a time of 6:12.0. Freshman Alex Hoskins (Long Beach, CA) was not far behind after earning a mark of 6:19.9 to earn him 21st place. 

The Vikings will kick off October activity by competing in the Tour de Cuesta in Cuesta, CA on Friday, October 7.