The Bakersfield College women’s cross country team placed 11th out of the 27 teams that participated in the California Community College State Championships held Nov. 22 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Mt. SAC took the first place win with a team time of 1:33:30 in the women’s 5k run. Mt. SAC had the team total of 78 points. Canyons, took second with the total team time of 1:34:44, giving the team 104 points. In third place, Glendale had the time of 1:34:24 and a team score of 109 points.
Aminat Olowora, of Southwestern, won first place individually in the women’s 5k races, with the time of 16:59.7. Yesenia Silva of Sequoias placed second, with the time of 17:33.8. With the time of 17:57.8, Laura Aceves of East LA, placed third.
In comparison, BC women placed 11th with 355 team points. The total team time 1:40:04 averaged to an even 20:00.
“With five of the runners freshmen, and five sophomores, I am excited to see our freshmen lead the team so well,” said Coach Dave Frickel of the women’s team.
BC’s Jessica Campbell placed 38th out of 197 runners. She had a time of 19:15.8 and an average of 6:25.3 per mile.
“I think they had a great finish,” said coach. “ I hope that everyone continues to improve.”
“My thoughts are really positive,” said Campbell. “ I was worried that I wouldn’t perform as well due to my injury, but I did a lot better than I had expected.”
BC’s Leah Theroux finished 72nd with a time of 19:57.0, averaging 6:39.0 per mile. Freshman Emily Freeman placed 91st in her first state meet appearance.
Campbell was proud of the women’s strength as a team. “Overall, the girls did great and we finished ninth of the Southern Californian teams. Even though I wasn’t able to run all the races, I feel that the women did a good job to represent us all.”
With the time of 20:16.7, Paola Silvestre, a sophomore, placed 95th, and BC teammate Yareli Ocampo came in 100th place with the time of 20:20.05.
In representation of the men’s team, Juan Calderon and Richard Timmermans would go on to run an individual race in the men’s 4mile run. Calderon placed 76th ranking with a time of 21:43.0 and an average of 5:25.8 per mile. The race had 213 finishers.
When asked if the stresses of running as an individual were hard to overcome, Calderon said that most of the runners, who placed for men in the top of the places, ran individually.
“Before the race, when the teams all have their team cheer before the race, all of the individual runners came together and chanted ‘individuals,’ and we were the loudest of all the teams. It was nice to have a chant, even without our team there. We did really good, almost placing for state as a team,” said Calderon.
“I think I did good, compared to the first race of the year, I did really good. I felt really good to take another 30 seconds off the time,” said Calderon.
When asked how the freshman, Timmermans did, Calderon said, “He kept pushing me so I had to push even harder, you know?”
Timmermans, a freshman who had a very impressive season, ended it by placing 142nd in a time of 22:26.7.
“I think in any race, regardless of what you run, you realize that your body is capable of, when you look back, you never think that was the best run. You can be proud of the things you accomplished. Sports in college are to help build character, but being a student is the most important focus,” said Frickel. “It is my goal to encourage the students in achieving their goals in athletics and education.”