Cross country: DOUBLE TITLES

Tony Altobelli

FRESNO - This is new, even for Coach John Goldman.

Orange Coast College men’s and women’s cross country each captured

state championships Saturday afternoon at Woodward Park in near-perfect

conditions.

The last time both the men’s and women’s squads each won the state

title was in 1981.

For the men’s team, the Pirates (100 points) edged out Mt. San

Antonio’s 108, Glendale’s 109 and San Diego Mesa’s 111 for the win.

The Pirates had all four runners in the top-40 overall to pull out the

win.

Leading the charge for the Pirate men was Juan Sanchez, who finished

ninth in the four-mile race with a 21:41.9.

Robert Jones (14th, 21:48.2), Chris Monachelli (18th, 21:56.7),

Alberto Munoz (30th, 22:16.9) and Manuel Orozco (41st, 22:25.8) round out

OCC’s top five.

Sanchez and Jones earned All-State honors with their efforts.

On the women’s side, three of the top 10 runners in the competition

were from OCC, the heavy favorite going into the finals.

Berenice Carbajal was the top Pirate runner, placing third overall

with a time of 18:57.7 in the 5k race.

Heather Shortleff was fifth at 19:03.5, while Zoila Gomez, who set the

course record Oct. 15 (18:20.5) was seventh with a 19:24.8.

Sinfo Orozco (24th, 20:25.9) and Elsa Ortega (38th, 20:51.2) round out

OCC’s top-five women finishers.

In terms of numbers, that’s the story. In terms of what it took to

accomplish the remarkable double, fourth-year coach John Goldman explains

following the third straight championship effort on the state level for

the women, and the eye-popping surprise by the men.

“Zoila Gomez was the key to all this,” said Goldman, who watched his

No. 1 runner go after West Valley College’s Rosemarie Lagunas with a

vengeance, leaving nothing spent.

“Zoila ran one of the bravest races I’ve ever seen,” continued

Goldman. “She had the guts to go after her, and she paid the price. It

was in incredible effort, and really, it inspired everyone, even the

men’s team.”

Lagunas, after staving off the advances of Gomez, won it in 18:03.5,

more than 33 seconds faster than her nearest competitor.

Gomez, completely spent, barely made it to the finish in seventh

place, but clearly was wearing the wreath of the champion on the joyous

ride home.

The men’s team responded with what was probably the best team effort

in Pirates’ history.

“It was an incredible run for those guys,” said Goldman. “It was the

best ‘team effort’ I’ve ever seen. And that’s what it takes to win,

everyone did their part and ran their best when it counted the most. They

focused on the competition and executed.”