The "Three Amigos"
Mario Macias, Ben Sanchez, Jose Palacios
It had never been done before - but the C.O.S. Giants did it on Saturday, November 11 on the hilly Sierra College cross country course. No other men's team had ever taken the top three spots in the Nor Cal Championship race, but Mario Macias, Ben
Sanchez, and Jose Palacios did just that and led the Giants' team to capturing the Nor Cal Championship title. The men's team score of 30 points is the second-lowest score ever in Nor Cal Championship history, going back to 1961. Following the one-two-three finish, Juan Vazquez placed a strong 11th place, Arturo Lopez was right behind in 13th, Leo Palacios placed 26th, and Josh Shafer finished 63rd in the 135-runner field.
The entire men's team went out agressively setting a strong early pace. Before the first mile mark the top three Giant runners had broken away and were never challenged for the rest of the race.
The Men's Nor Cal Championship title is the second consecutive for the Giants and the third championship in COS history, the first having come under the leadership of Coach Joe Barba in 1985.
Mario Macias becomes the fourth individual Nor Cal men's champion from COS since 1993. Other winners were Robert Malseed (1993), Chris Coleman, the Giant's assistant coach for the past two seasons (1995), and Rick Turner (1999).
The Lady Giants team captured fourth place in the women's 5K race, equaling the best ever team placing for COS. Araceli Garcia led the COS runners placing 12th, closely followed by Kristie Gonzales in 16th and Angelica Casas in 21st. Completing the scoring were Angel Gaines in 40th, Melissa Hernandez in 90th, and Anna Garcia in 91st.
The COS women runners continued their pattern of rapid improvement. The first three Lady Giants improved their best time on this course by an average of over 1:20. The other three team members were not ready to compete when the team raced on this course earlier in the year, but Anna Garcia improved her lifetime best by 1:16 during the race even on this difficult course.
Both teams qualified for the California State Community College Championships to be held at Fresno's Woodward Park on Saturday, November 18.
An
additional highlight of the day was the announcement that
Coach
David Bronzan was named by the Nor Cal Coaches as 
the
Nor Cal Men's Coach of the Year. Receiving the vote as
Women's
Coach of the Year was Jean Snuggs, American
River
College.
Congratulations
!