Women's Cross-Country Advances to State Championships

by Cerwin D Haynes

It wasn't a one-woman show at the SoCal Regionals for East LA College, and it won't be for the 3C2A State Championships.

Last year, Marbella Flores was the lone Husky to qualify for State. This year, thanks to a score of 312, ELAC Women's Cross Country nabbed a qualifying spot to State as a team. As it's been throughout the season, Kiyoko Divecchio had the Huskies' best time, finishing at 19:59.5 - 16th overall.

The Huskies, who have hovered around the SoCal Top-10 rankings for most of the semester, had to sweat it out as their fourth-best runner, freshman Rosalinda Solis, was out with an injury. While the team had a couple of reserves step in, it put more pressure on their best runners.

"Everybody else had to run faster to make up for not having Rosalinda," said head coach Milton Browne. "It was stressful, but we made it".

Freshman Cassidy Quintanar, who Coach Browne noted for making great improvement over the summer, finished in the top-40. She ran a time of 20:51.2, good for 29th overall.

HUSKY BITS

• Browne hopes to having Solis healthy for State. If she comes back, it'll bolster the Pack's chances for at least a top-10 finish.

UP NEXT:

It's the last stop: the 3C2A Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 23 at Woodward Park in Fresno.