Women's Cross Country Earns Highest Finish at SCC Champs in Nine Years

by Cerwin D Haynes

Earlier this week, East Los Angeles College Women's Cross Country head coach Milton Browne expressed excitement regarding the upward trajectory of his program. And he's not shy about his ultimate goal...

"I want to catch Mt. SAC."

Last season, the team was essentially a one-woman show with Marbella Flores as the star. This year, he's got a similarly talented runner in sophomore Kiyoko Divecchio, but the big difference is that the talent behind her has vastly improved.

That improvement allowed ELAC to hit a milestone today at the South Coast Conference Championships: with a fourth-place overall finish, the program earned it's first team placing in the event since 2018 as well as it's highest finish in nine seasons (the team finished fourth in 2015). Divecchio notched another top-10 finish, her time of 19:33.2 was good for fifth place. Freshman Cassidy Quintanar earned her best finish so far this season with a time of 20:42.27, good for 14th. Freshman Renata Cuevas placed 26th (21:29.6), and rounding out the rest of the finishes were sophomore Rosalinda Solis (22:27.0, 34th), freshman Kiara Kam (22:40.0, 37th - personal best for the season) and freshman Natalia Ceron (25:47.8, 47th).

Quintanar, who joined ELAC in the spring as a track and field freshman, has put in work over the summer. "Man, she's really improved," exclaimed Coach Browne.

UP NEXT:

The Huskies will have two weeks to prepare for the SoCal Regional Championships at Chaffey College on Friday, November 8.