Tigers Win Ninth OEC Championship in 10 Seasons

Riverside City College won its ninth Orange Empire Conference Championship in 10 seasons, beating Orange Coast College by 10 points.

Ernesto Ruiz won the individual title with a time of 19 minutes, 40.6 seconds, earning himself OEC Male Runner of the Year and first-team all-conference. He becomes the fourth Riverside OEC Male Runner of the Year in the last five years as he joins the likes of Gavyn Condit (2022), Able Ramos (2019), and Enrique Villa (2017 and 2018). Coach Jim McCarron was also named the OEC Coach of the Year for the

The Tigers placed three runners in the top five and four in the top eight, with all seven scorers finishing in the top 20. Juan Espino took fourth in 20:32.4, while Kalil O'Brien finished fifth overall after crossing the finish line in 20:45.8, giving both Tigers all-conference first-team honors.

Edgar Ortega took eighth in 21:16.5 to earn second-team All-OEC and Daniel Nava finished in 21:27.3 for 13^th place, while three Tigers came one right after each other in 16^th through 18^th: Jack Slavin rounded out the scorers for RCC with a time of 21:47.3, followed by Rionn Hudson (21:48.5) and Edward Garcia (22:00.1).