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College of the Sequoias
Men's
and Women's Cross Country
2002
'02 Archives:
Roster '02
Coaches '02
Schedule '02
Results '02
T & F '02
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Archives:
2002 Season
Giant Men's Team 2nd at NorCal Championships
Women's Team Places Fifth
Saturday,
November 9
Photos Complete Results: Men
Women
The day the Giants had been waiting for all season finally arrived, the
NorCal Championships. After two days of steady rain the Sierra
College course appeared sloppy 
but
fast and the COS runners were ready for a total effort. The women
started off the day with a goal of finishing in the top five teams.
The race got off to a good start with Michelle Garcia, Elaine Alvarez, and
Crystal Roethlisberger all in the top 6 places at the one mile mark.
But then the muddy course had its effect on the race. Michelle, who
was in third place and moving up, slipped and fell. Elaine also lost
her footing and tumbled, and instead of being with the leaders, these lady
Giants were forced to play catch-up the rest of the race. Crystal,
who stayed on her feet, 
ran
her strongest race of the year and placed fourth overall to lead the
team. Michelle and Elaine finished in tenth and eleventh
places. Maribel Lopez, who missed the first four races of the season
with a foot injury, continued to improve her racing performance with a
31st place finish. Katie Lucero rounded out the top five by
improving her time on this course by over three minutes and finished in
71st place. Maryann Brinkman provided additional depth with a 78th
place finish and the Lady Giants achieved their goal by placing 5th as a
team in the meet. An outstanding feat by an all-freshman team!
Next up was the men's race and the big "shoot-out" between COS
and West Valley. The Giants, who had won the last three NorCal
titles, knew that they would be strongly challenged by the men from West
Valley. The last time the two teams had met, at the Toro Park
Invitational four weeks earlier, the Giants had come away with a one-point
victory. 
From
the initial gun the COS men showed their aggressive style of racing with
Hector Figueroa, Jose Marino, Francisco Ortega, and Jacinto Garcia
applying the pressure. By the 1 1/2 mile mark the Giants occupied
three of the top 8 places in a tight front pack. At the three mile
mark it appeared that the Giants were on their way to a fourth consecutive
NorCal title. Hector, Jose, and Francisco remained in the top 8
places and Robert Avalos, Bascir Smith, Andrew Pikop, and Jacinto were all
ahead of West Valley's fifth man. During the final mile the West
Valley team, showing great courage and toughness, began fighting their way
back. At that same time Jose Marino, who had never been lower than
second man on the COS team, suffered acute oxygen deficiency and was
barely able to finish. Even with Hector and Francisco finishing
sixth and seventh respectively, the race was not decided until the last
150 meters when West Valley's fifth man caught and passed the fourth and
fifth runners from COS. The final score was West Valley 80, COS
84. A tribute to the COS team effort is the fact that even without
their number 2 man scoring on this day, the Giants still missed winning
their fourth consecutive NorCal title by only four points.
Giants off and running at Fresno Invitational
Saturday, September 14
The Giant Men's team captured the first place trophy in the Northern California division of the 4 mile race at Woodward Park and placed 4th overall behind three very strong teams from the South. The overall winner was Mt. SAC, and second and third place teams overall were Orange Coast and Santa Ana.
The
Giant men were led by freshman, former Corcoran High runner, Hector
Figueroa and freshman Jose Marino, formerly of Paso Robles High.
Finishing third for the Giants was Ben Gimlin, formerly Mount Whitney
High.