Sophomore Riki Moscoso’s time of 21:42 in the 4 mile run helped LBCC secure 16th place for the team to qualify for the State Championship, narrowly clinching the final spot.
In this run, the top 16 teams qualified for state, and LBCC secured the number 16 spot in the rankings, edging out Santa Monica College by 14 points.
“Early on, we were never ranked in the top 16 in SoCals, so we knew we had to upset some teams today,” LBCC head coach Julio Jimenez stated.
Moscoso’s 21:42 time helped him finish with the best time for LBCC in the race.
“Since I got injured early in the season, my whole goal since then was to qualify for state either individually or as a team, and I feel like that was a big achievement since it was a hard time when the doctors told me I wasn’t gonna be able to compete for the season,” Moscoso stated in regards to what was going through his mind before and after the race.
LBCC ran better as a team this time around as freshman Joshua Jung finished the race three seconds after Moscoso.
Shortly after Jung crossed the finish line, sophomore Leonardo Acevedo came across with the time of 21:54.
For completion of the run, LBCC’s runners averaged 22:21 and the runners’ times added all together was 1:51:45.
Compared to the SoCal Regional Preview that took place earlier in the season the times added up all together were three minutes faster in Friday’s Championship.
The improvements and mentality by LBCC’s top three runners, Moscoso, Jung and Acevedo caught the eye of Jimenez, as this was a key factor in his team qualifying for the State Championship.
“We had Leonardo Acevedo improving throughout the season, Riki Moscoso battling with an injury, and then Joshua (Jung) getting used to the new distance, so we had a spectrum of challenges within our top three. But they worked together today and they were passing people together and pack running,” Jimenez stated.
LBCC looks to take home the gold when they head to Fresno on Nov. 18 to compete in the 3C2A State Championship at Woodward Park.
Nico Nance finishes strong in the SoCal Regionals meet held at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, on Friday, November 3, 2023. The Vikings men’s team placed 16th out of 27 schools at the meet. (Kassie Sainz) 
Franklyn Taylor finishes strong in the SoCal Regionals meet held at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, on Friday, November 3, 2023. The Vikings men’s team placed 16th out of 27 schools at the meet. (Kassie Sainz) 
Leonardo Acevedo finishes strong in the SoCal Regionals meet held at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, on Friday, November 3, 2023. The Vikings men’s team placed 16th out of 27 schools at the meet. (Kassie Sainz)