The Bakersfield College cross-country teams faced conference competition in the Western State Conference Preview meet in Oxnard on Oct. 2.

The BC women placed fourth out of nine teams. The Renegades’ Kelly Hartfield led the way by placing 19th with a time of 20 minutes 3.41 seconds. Emily Freeman placed 23rd with a time of 20:11.54, and teammate Sydney Roman followed behind at 20:13.88 to give the team three participants who finished in the top 25 out of 78 participants. The winner of the race was Leana Setian from Glendale with a time of 18:39.17.

The BC men finished eighth out of 12 teams with Richard Timmermans placing 19th with a time of 21:13.93. BC’s Jacob Franco was close behind in 21:23.56 and teammate Christopher Moreno placed 40th in 21:51.00. The winner of the race was Sam Boyle from Ventura with a time of 20:18.34.

On Sept. 25, BC made home debuts at Kern County Soccer Park.

The women’s team took first out of three teams in front of Ventura and Antelope Valley. The men’s team finished second behind Ventura and in front of Antelope Valley.

Out of 23 participants for the women’s 5K, Ventura’s Jordyn Vassaur placed first, with a time of 20:39. Coming in second was BC’s Hartfield, with a time of 21:08, followed by teammates Freeman at 21:16 and Yareli Ocampo at 22:09.

In the men’s four-mile race, Ventura’s Sam Boyle finished in first out of the 33 participants with a time of 21:52. BC’s Timmermans came in second with a time of 22:33 followed closely by teammates Franco at 22:35 and Moreno in fourth at 22:40.

Following the WSC meet, BC’s cross-country teams competed in the Santa Barbara Community College Invitational on Oct. 9, where both teams took fourth.

The men placed fourth out of a 14-team, 124-participant field.

Sean McDermott from Cuesta came in first with a time of 22:09.32.

BC’s highest placer was once again Timmermans who came in with a time of 23:18.76.

“I feel I did very well in this race compared to previous races. I changed a few things in preparation for this race. The changes helped me improve my rankings in the races, so I’ll probably stick to them.” Timmermans said.

Timmerman owes his success to his training where he found out he had another gear where he could push harder and sustain it for a longer time which he applied to this race.

He also said, “I broke down a wall and it’s just another obstacle out of the way.”

Moreno took 23rd, finishing with a time of 23:43.67, followed by teammate Holbrook taking 34th at a time of 24:25.08.

On the women’s side they placed fourth out of a 10-team, 85-participant field.

Brenda Sanchez from Glendale came in at first with a time of 21:05.98.

Freeman led the BC team finishing with a time of 23:00.91 and placing 19th.

Freeman said, “I didn’t improve as much as I did last time. I didn’t get the same time as last year, but the whole race was slower.”

Teamamte Alyssa-Lynn Paul came in 21st with a time of 23:12.83. Following close behind was Felicity Tomisaka at 31st with a time of 23:55.84.

The team will travel to West Los Angles for the WSC Conference Meet on Oct. 23 located at Kenny Hahn Park.