Long Beach City College’s cross country team showed out this year as they closed out their season competing at the CCCAA State Championships, with nine athletes representing the school.
The women’s cross country team had a strong season, where they qualified for state as a team and finished 19th at the state meet.
The girls representing Long Beach City College were Ailene Rios (So), Natalie Mejia (Fr), Jamileth Alvarado (Fr), Frida Hernandez (Fr), Lorena Galaviz (Fr), Katelyn Moratoya (Fr) and Jennifer Martinez (Fr).
Rios finished her season with a time of 19:10.5 and placed 20th overall while Mejia was the second highest finisher with a time of 21:37.4 putting her at 92nd overall.
Rios’ best time this season was 18:54 which was a major highlight for her.
“The highlight was definitely breaking 19, that was one of my last races and it was a good one,” Rios said. “That was definitely a highlight because that was the end goal.”
Women’s head coach Karen Vigilant was extremely proud of the ladies for pushing through this season even when it looked to be tough.
“In the beginning we were struggling to have five on our team and then towards the end we made it through, so that’s a big accomplishment,” Vigilant said.
On the men’s side there were two men who made it to state as individuals, Riki Moscoso (Fr) and Noah Macias (Fr).
Moscoso finished 120th overall with a time of 22:46.3 and Macias finished 127th overall with a personally improved time of 22:49.5.
Coming off of an injury, Moscoso’s best time this season was a 21:28, which helped him qualify for state.
Before the upcoming track and field season and next year’s cross country season Moscoco said, “I want to strengthen my groin and hip area because that’s what led to my injury during this season. If I just improve on that I feel like I’ll be able to do good in track and cross country for next season.”
Eight out of the nine men that competed for the team were first time runners at the college level and they managed to get second in conference this year.
“I was happy with our outcome considering they are all freshmen, most of them should be returning next year so that excites me for next season,” said men’s head coach Julio Jimenez.
Aileen Rios and Riki Moscoso were both named first team all conference. Natalie Mejia and Noah Macias were named second team all conference.
LBCC’s track and field season will start in early February of 2023 and the Viking’s will be hosting two home meets this season. The first home meet will be on Friday, March 10 at 11 a.m., and the second meet on Friday, April 7 at 12 p.m.