Posted: Nov 02, 2018
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CERRITOS, CA. | West Los Angeles College's Maya Richardson, Baltazar Bucup, and Armando Lozano qualified for the State Championships on Friday after finishing as the 3rd, 5th, and 7th individuals on non-qualifying teams at the Southern California Championships at Don Knabe Regional Park. The Wildcats will be one of 14 individuals who will represent the South Region at the 2018 State Cross Country Championships on November 17, 2018. The meet will take place at Woodward Park in Fresno.
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Freshman, Maya Richardson (San Pedro High School) ran a personal best 19:42 for the 5000 meter women's course, making this the 2nd year in a row the women's program will send an individual to state. Ellie Koncki, now at University of Nebraska qualified in 2017 for the Wildcats. On the men's side, sophomores, Baltazar Bucup (Roybal Learning Center), and Armando Lozano (Dorsey High School) also ran personal bests, clocking 20:18 and 20:28 for the 4-mile course. |
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The men's team finished in 17th place, but couldn't overcome Raul Lopez (Francis Polytechnic) losing his shoe during the congested start of the race. Last week's # 2 runner for the Wildcats, raced almost the entire way with one shoe off and one shoe on after his heel was clipped, knocking off his shoe. He finished with a bloody and blistered foot, and a minute off his best mark of the season as West LA missed qualifying by 3 spots. Lopez will be the top returner for the Wildcats in 2019 along with Max Jordan (Culver City) and Nathan Torres (Birmingham) who finished their season today with gutsy performances as well running their fastest times of the season in 22:14 and 22:41. Local rivals Santa Monica College and East LA College finished in 23rd and 27th place respectively.
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| The State Championships will take place in 2 weeks and begin with the women's race at 9:00am, followed by the men's race at 10:00am. |