Tigers' Runners Place Seventh out of 31 Teams at SoCal Preview Friday

ENCINO -- Finishing seventh out of 31 teams, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's cross country squad posted a respectable showing Friday (Sept. 19) at the SoCal Preview at Woodley Park despite not having its top two runners available due to injuries.

Riverside competed without Willie Raus and Dennis Gonzalez, nevertheless, the Tigers stepped up with fantastic packing over the four-mile course.  Doug Negrete (pictured) led the team with a 38th place finish (21:15), and the Tigers fifth and final scorer, Tony Rivera, placed 54th overall (21:29). 

RCC accumulated 239 points for the seventh-place finish. Mt. San Antonio College won the meet with 53 points, followed by College of the Canyons (55 points), American River (68), Orange Coast (156), and Glendale College (178). El Camino College was sixth (185).

"Having a 14-second gap between our first and fifth man is fantastic," said RCC head men's cross country coach Jim McCarron.  "Now, our goal is to lower their average mile pace 10-12 seconds before we return here for the SoCal Finals in November.   If they can do that we will be a top five team at state," concluded McCarron. 

Full results can be found on www.royalresults.com. 

The Tigers return to competition next Friday, Sept. 26, at the Golden West Invitational at Central Park in Huntington Beach.

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