With the temperature near 100 degrees, the Long Beach City College women's cross country team totaled 740 points to finish in 25th place out of 27 teams at the Orange Coast Classic at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa on Saturday. The event also served as the annual Southern California Preview meet.
LBCC fielded a full team for the first time this season, starting the race with six runners.
Leading the way for the Vikings was sophomore Valerie Nettles (pictured right). She cleared the 5,000-meter course with a time of 24:24.48 to finish in 150th place. Not far behind her was freshman Diana Ramos (pictured left) in 152nd place at 24:35.65. Freshman Allison Martinez kept pace at 24:39.81 for 155th place.
Other times for the Vikings included freshmen Courtney Porter at 25:21.67 (168th) and Marina Jimenez with 26:12.34 (176th). Freshman Samantha Barajas was unable to finish the race.
Host Orange Coast College won the event with 34 points. Glendale College's Grace Graham-Zamudio was the individual winner with a time of 18:38.48.
LBCC is off next week and returns to action September 28 at the Crystal Springs Invitational in Belmont.
Photo by Chris Ruiz