Riverside City College Men’s Cross Country team Claims 13th Orange Empire Conference Title in 15 Years
Riverside City College (RCC) continued its reign on November 3, 2024 in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC), securing its 13th conference title in the last 15 years this past Friday afternoon. With six runners placing in the top 10, the Tigers tallied an impressive team score of 23 points, outpacing Orange Coast College, which took second place with 40 points, and Saddleback College, which followed with 84 points.
The race for the individual title came down to a thrilling finish between two RCC Tigers. Kailil O’Brien narrowly edged out teammate Anthony Ruiz, winning the championship with a time of 20 minutes, 39.07 seconds. Ruiz was a mere fraction behind at 20:39.83, capturing second place.
RCC Student Kalil O'Brien with his medals after the Orange Empire Conference
Additional top performances from RCC included Daniel Nava and Jorge Guillen, who placed fifth and sixth with times of 21:09.65 and 21:26.86, respectively. Damion Spralls took ninth place, clocking in at 21:37.26, while Luke Catherwood rounded out the top 10 with a time of 21:39.53. All six runners earned all-conference honors with their top 14 finishes.
Edward Garcia (16th place, 21:47.85) and Joshua West (17th place, 21:51.75) also contributed solid performances to round out the team’s scoring.
"I’m really proud of this team," said RCC Head Coach Jim McCarron. "This race was supposed to be close, but everybody stepped up. Anthony and Kailil outpaced one of the top runners in the state, Jimmy Dominguez from OCC, who beat them last year. We have some tuning up to do before SoCal next week and the State Championships on November 23, but the guys will be ready."
The Tigers will now head to Chaffey College for the Southern California Championship on November 10, as they prepare for the State Championships later this month.
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