Paced by freshman Daniel Herrera (El Rancho HS), who easily came in first place, the Cerritos College men's cross country team finished third in the South Coast Conference Championships, which were held at Cerritos Park on Saturday. The Falcons finished with 83 team points and trailed only Los Angeles Trade-Tech College, who won the championship with 37 team points, followed by El Camino College, who had 47 team points. Cerritos will now compete in the Southern California Championships, which will take place next Saturday at Guasta Park in Ontario. A month ago, Cerritos finished in eighth place at the SoCal Preview Meet, which was held at the same location.

 

    Herrera won his fourth race of the season by completing the fast four-mile course in a time of 21:50, while his closest competition, David Rosales of El Camino College, was a distant second place at 22.14. Rosales barely edged Falcon freshman Munir Kahssay, who was third overall in 22:15, with the next Cerritos runner still a minute away from finishing the race. Freshman Brandon Taylor (Mayfair HS) finished in a tie with Mt. San Antonio College's Cody Viers, who was awarded 17th place in 23:14, while Taylor earned 18th place at 23:14.01.

 

    There was a huge drop-off for the Falcons after the top three runners, as sophomore John Acuna (Cypress HS) came in 34th place in a time of 23:45, while sophomore Luis Calderon (Whittier HS) rounded out the team scoring with his 36th place time of 23:45.02, as he finished in a virtual tie with two other runners.

 

    Rounding out the Cerritos squad on the day were freshman Jose Hernandez (Magnolia HS; 37th place; 23:46), sophomore Joey Moreno (El Rancho HS; 41st place; 24:03), freshman Jonathan Lyan (42nd place; 24:04), freshman Joe Magana (Cantwell HS; 44th place; 24:10), sophomore Luis Castillo (Tokay HS; 59th place; 24:36), freshman Thomas Poston (El Dorado HS; 60th place; 24:37), freshman Daniel Sanchez (Kennedy HS; 75th place; 25:31.01) and freshman Edwin del Rosario (Kennedy HS; 87th place; 27:25).