Riverside Wins First Conference Crown since 1991, Snaps Orange Coast's 18-season Win Streak

FULLERTON -- Posting its first conference championship crown since 1991, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's cross country squad won the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) championship at Craig Park (hosted by Fullerton College) in Fullerton Friday (Oct. 31).

In winning the conference crown, Riverside (33 points) also snapped an 18-season conference championship streak that was set by the Orange Coast College (OCC) Pirates, which finished third (85 points). In between, the Saddleback College Gauchos placed second (52 points) over the five-kilometer (3.1 miles) course.

Rounding out the team scoring were the host Fullerton College (FC) Hornets (102 points, fourth place), followed by the Santiago Canyon College (SCC) Hawks (125 points, fifth place), the Santa Ana College (SAC) Dons (130 points, sixth place), and the Golden West College (GWC) Rustlers (179 points, seventh place).

Saddleback frosh Sara Fleming finished first with a time of 18:00.0 winning the women's individual OEC title. Three RCC runners followed Fleming with frosh Brianna Jacklin (Riverside / M.L. King '14) taking second (18:13.4), frosh Crystal Tejeda (Riverside / Norte Vista '14) third (18:21.5), and frosh Maria Morales (Riverside / Poly '14) fourth (18:31.3). OCC's Niseen Rizk placed fifth overall (18:34.8) out of 62 competitors.

Next for RCC were frosh Laura Diaz-Barbosa (Jurupa Valley / Rubidoux '14), who finished 11th overall (19:09.9), frosh Liliana Vargas (Eastvale / Eleanor Roosevelt '14), who was 13th overall (19:19.0), and sophomore Isi Ibarra (Highland / San Gorgonio '13), who was 14th overall (19:22.5).

The Tigers next compete at the Southern California Championships at Woodley Park in Encino on Friday, Nov. 8, at 10 a.m.

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