The Cerritos College men's cross country team concluded their season on Saturday with a 23rd place finish at the State Championships, which were held at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Falcons finished with 588 team points, with 28 teams competing in the championships.

 

    It was a rough week for the team, as their top runner, sophomore Gabriel Hilbert (Kennedy HS) was struggling with injuries, and was unable to stay among the elite runners in the state. Those injures resulted in Hilbert dropping to 114th out of the 217 runners with a time of 22:08.48. He was the second Falcon to finish the race, as freshman Robert Duran (Whittier HS) led the team with an 88th place finish in a time of 21:48.07.

 

    Cerritos was represented by seven runners, with freshman Brian Bayani (Kennedy HS) right behind Hilbert with a time of 22:12.48, good for 117th place overall. The duo of sophomore Thomas Jimenez (El Rancho HS) and freshman Joey Moreno (El Rancho HS) rounded out the team scoring with their finishes. Jimenez came in 168th overall in a time of 22:58.26, while Moreno was clocked in 22:59.81, good for 171st place. Freshman William Pettus (Esperanza HS) came in 182nd place in 23:17.32, while freshman Luis Calderon (Whittier HS) rounded out the team with a time of 23:34.54, good for 190th place.