Men’s Cross Country Wins OEC Title, Condit Earns Top Honors
For the eighth time in the last 10 years, the Riverside City College men's cross-country team hauled in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) title. They had seven runners finish in the top 10 leading to the victory.
The Tigers saw eight runners land in the top-14 to earn All-Conference honors highlighted by a first-place finish from sophomore Gavyn Condit.
Condit paced the pack and landed first overall with an overall mark of 19:58.91. He was the only runner to finish under a 20-minute time and defeated the second place finisher by nearly 30 seconds.
"It feels pretty good to be the champion," said Condit at race's end. "I went in pretty confident knowing that I could win. Once I hit the flat ground, I really took off and left the remainder of the field."
Condit spoke early in the season about where he expects the team to be after the Redlands Invitational in early September leading up to the OEC Championship meet. His plan came to fruition.
"I am happy the season is going how it is. My coach and I had a plan leading up to the race and it went exactly as planned."
Condit has been a consistent podium finisher this season and proved his consistency by adding another top finish to his 2022 resume. His growth from his first year to his sophomore year has seen drastic improvements and he has no plans of slowing down.
"When I started freshman year, I did not have the confidence I have now. No when I get into the race, I have the confident feeling and I know what I want to do. The coaches have helped me build that confidence."
Condit is the third OEC Male Runner of the Year in the last four years as he joins the likes of Enrique Villa '17, '18 and Able Ramos '19.
Finishing in third place was sophomore Kyle Reden who had not had a podium finish throughout his entire 2022 season. He crossed the line with a mark of 20:38.44 to haul in the bronze and First-Team All-Conference recognition.
Sophomore Raen Reyes placed sixth overall with a time of 20:47.44 to earn First-Team All-Conference recognition, while freshman Ernesto Ruiz placed seventh overall with a clip of 20:49.87 to slide into the final slot for First-Team All-Conference accolades.
Sophomore Salvador Avila placed eighth overall with a mark of 20:50.19, while sophomore David Rush followed in ninth place with a time of 20:58.08. Sophomore duo Vincent Navarro (10th place – 20:59.71) and Nicandro Rosas (11th place – 21:05.17) rounded out the top finishers for Riverside to earned Second-Team All-Conference honors.