Tigers Harriers Win Season-opening Meet Friday at Rio Hondo Classic

EL MONTE -- The 2014 Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's cross country team started its season on the right foot with a team victory in the Rio Hondo Classic last Friday morning (Sept. 5) at Legg Lake Park in El Monte.

Riverside, with a fairly young team, won the 3.1-mile event with 36 points, led by frosh Brianna Jacklin (M.L. King HS), who finished fourth overall (18:52), followed by RCC sophomore Isi Ibarra (San Gorgonio HS) in fifth place (18:55). Southwestern was a close second with 42 points and Ventura rounded out the top three with 87 points. 

All told, of RCC's seven top finishers, five were frosh. The Tigers also had four women finish in the top ten and over half the squad placed in the top 20.

"They ran well as a team," said RCC head women's cross country coach Damien Smith. "I was excited to see them work on pack running, especially in our first meet of the year. This is something we have been working on and is very important in being successful in cross country", added Smith. 

Rounding out the Tigers' top 5 (scoring) girls were sophomore Halina Carrera (Chino Hills HS), who was seventh (19:14), frosh Crystal Tejeda (Norte Vista HS), who placed ninth (19:26), and frosh Maria "Rebecca" Morales (Riverside Poly HS), finished 12th (19:35).  

The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday, September 13, at the UC Riverside Invitational at 7 a.m. which will be run amongst the orange groves between Canyon Crest Dr. and M.L. King. RCC will compete against teams on the NCAA Division1 and Division 2 levels, as well as NAIA and community college levels.

-30-