ELAC Women's Cross Country
East Los Angeles College sophomore Kattie Padilla ran a personal record in the final meet of the regular season, the South Coast Conference women's cross country finals. (Photo by Tadzio)

ELAC women’s cross country advances to SoCal

CERRITOS, Calif. — For the first time since 2015, the East Los Angeles College women’s cross country team advances to the Southern California Championships out of the South Coast Conference Championships today.

“The South Coast Cross Country Conference Finals went great for East Los Angeles College cross country men and women’s team because both teams advanced to the Southern California Finals on November 2, 2018 at Don Knabe Regional Park,” said ELAC head cross country coach Kathryn Kelly.

It was the first time this season that ELAC competed with a full five-member team. Even though they actually placed 7th out of seven teams, they still received a SoCal bid which was based on their collective times. Only four SCC teams earn automatic bids to SoCal. The SCC is the toughest conference in Southern California with four teams ranked in the state poll.

Sophomore Kattie Padilla (Montebello High School), a psychology major finished with her second-straight personal record. She knocked off more than a minute from her previous best time and finished in 21:16 minutes. Padilla is primed to advance to the state finals if she continues at the pace she has been improving during the season. She has improved with four personal records this year out of five meets!

Freshman Tahlia Adams (Eleanor Roosevelt HS), a technology microcomputer major, also finished with her second-straight personal record and third this season from four meets with a time of 23:35.2. Adams ripped past Cerritos freshman Adriana Martinez in their 300-meter sprint to the finish line.

Indira Acosta edged ELAC teammate Lesley Somoza by one-hundredth of a second. It was the first meet of the season for both freshmen. Freshman Daria Ayala (Bravo Medical Magnet HS), who is majoring in business administration, rounded out the ELAC scoring.

UP NEXT

The SoCal Championships women’s 5k race is Friday, Nov. 2 at the same course as today’s competition, the Don Knabe Regional Park located at 19700 Bloomfield Ave., Cerritos, CA 9070 with a 10 a.m. start time. ELAC will attempt to advance to the state finals for the first time since 2014.

Follow ELAC Athletics at http://athletics.elac.edu/landing/index or on Facebook at ELAC Huskies Athletics (@elachuskiesathletics).

submitted by Tadzio Garcia