Riverside Runs to First Victory of the Season; Returns to action on October 9

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Running with great depth as it has all season, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers men's cross country team won their first meet of the season (in four starts) at the annual Golden West College Invitational at Central Park Friday morning (Sept. 25).

The Tigers are currently ranked No. 2 in Southern California.

Riverside posted a team score of 60 points over the 4.0-mile course. RCC was followed by the College of the Canyons (66 points), Saddleback College (67), Glendale College (111) and Santa Ana College (127). Canyons sophomore Ethan Walker won the race with a time of 20:53.9.

RCC's top finisher was freshman Joshua Silva (Corona / Corona HS '15), who was fourth overall (21:14) in a field of 180 runners, followed by freshman Michael Simpson (Moreno Valley / Canyon Springs HS '15), who was 11th overall (21:47), freshman Anthony Arvizu (Temecula / Great Oak HS '15), who was 13th overall (21:56), sophomore Jeronimo Brito (Corona / La Sierra HS '14), who was 14th overall (21:57), and freshman Chris Malloy (Murrieta / Vista Murrieta HS '15), who was 18th overall (22:07).

"The key to the Tigers' victory was the 20-second gap between our second and fifth runners," said RCC ninth-year head cross country coach Jim McCarron. "The guys followed the race plan quite well with our top five in the top 18 overall, and they did that with two of our usual top five out with injuries.  It's great to see other guys step up.  Depth is always good to have," concluded McCarron.

Full results can be found on directathletics.com

The Tigers next meet will be on Friday, October 9, at the new Riverside cross country  course on the corner of Orange Street and Columbia Avenue.

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