2011 Meet Stories
By Dave Loveton, sports information
Saturday, Nov. 19 -- State Championships at Woodward Park, Fresno, 10 a.m.
Garland takes 20th in State
Men place 16th; Instebo is 33rd for women
Ben Garland and Matthew Bailey turned in their fastest times of the year on Saturday
in the Community College State Cross Country Championships, leading SBCC to a 16th-place finish at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Garland, a freshman from Santa Cruz, took 20th out of 215 runners in a season-best 20:48 on the 4-mile course. Bailey, a freshman
from Dos Pueblos High, ran his fastest time of the season (21:22) to place 59th.
The Vaquero men finished 16th in the 28-school field. American River beat five-time defending state champ San Bernardino
Valley 49-91 for the team trophy.
“It was a great way to finish off our season,” said coach Scott Fickerson. “We went
out aggressively, positioned ourselves well and ran a strong race on a difficult course.”
Cecilia Instebo, one of three Vaqueros who qualified as individuals, turned in a
season-best 19:27 to take 33rd. Harley Arce was 64th in 19:59 and Kelly Mayer was 85th in 20:16.
Glendale won the women’s title with 30 points and Karen Rosas of Glendale was the
individual champ in 17:59.
State Championships
At Fresno
Men
Team (28 schools) -- 1, American River 49. 2, San Bernardino Valley 91. 3, San Diego
Mesa 101. 16, SBCC 413.
Individual (4 miles) -- 1, Garrett Seawell, AR, 19:53.06 (new course record).
SBCC runners -- 20, Ben Garland 20:48. 59, Matthew Bailey 21:22. 94, Omar Padilla
21:50. 140, Chino Garnica 22:34. 149, Nery Gonzalez 22:46. 198, Dennis Jonsson 24:04.
214, Jamison Leighton 27:17.
Women
Team -- 1, Glendale 30. 2, Orange Coast 115. 3, Mt. SAC 123.
Individual (5K) -- 1, Karen Rosas, Glendale, 17:59. 2, Devon Kelsey, Cuesta, 18:00.
SBCC runners -- 33, Cecilia Instebo 19:27. 64, Harley Arce 19:59. 85, Kelly Mayer
20:16.
Friday, Nov. 4 -- Southern Cal Championships at Guasti Park, Rancho Cucamonga.
Men take 14th, qualify for state finals
Padilla finishes 47th; Women are 19th at So Cal meet
Omar Padilla ran a season-best 21:21 for 47th place on Wednesday and Ben Garland took 50th in 21:23, leading the SBCC men to 14th place in the Southern Cal Championships at Rancho Cucamonga.
The Vaqueros earned the 14th and final qualifying berth (out of 28 schools) to the State Championships. The state
meet is Nov. 19 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Matt Bailey placed 89th out of 197 runners in the 4-mile trek on a rainy day at Guasti Park.
“We had personal bests of a minute per man,” noted coach Scott Fickerson. “We were
aggressive from the start and stayed tenacious all the way to the line. We did what
we had to do to qualify.”
It’s the first time in Fickerson’s four year sthat his men have qualified for state.
San Bernardino Valley edged L.A. Trade Tech 68-75 for the men’s title.
SBCC placed 19th in the women’s 5K race, led by Cecilia Instebo (52nd, 19:40), Kelly Mayer (62nd, 19:51) and Harley Arce (80th, 20:12). Those three all qualified for state as individuals.
Glendale won the women’s crown with 37 points and Karen Rosas of Glendale was the
individual champ in 17:54.
“Our entire squad ran well, this was our fastest time by four minutes,” Fickerson
noted. “We still might get an at-large team invitation to the state meet, depending
on how many teams qualify from the North.”
Last year, the top 18 teams got in from Southern Cal due to a smaller number of qualifiers
in the North.
Southern Cal
Championships
At Rancho Cucamonga
Men
Team (28 schools, 14 advance to state) -- 1, San Bernardino Valley 68. 2, L.A. Trade
Tech 75. Other: 14, SBCC 419.
Individual (4 miles) -- 1, Daniel Herrera, Cerritos, 19:58.
SBCC runners -- 47, Omar Padilla 21:21. 50, Ben Garland 21:23. 89, Matt Bailey 21:52.
117, Chino Garnica 22:28. 128, Nery Gonzalez 22:48. 165, Dennis Jonsson 23:51. 168,
Jamison Leighton 23:54.
Women
Team (28 schools, 14 advance to state) -- 1, Glendale 27. 2, Orange Coast 100. Others:
19, SBCC 532.
Individual (5K) -- 1, Karen Rosas, Glendale, 17:54.
SBCC runners -- 52, Cecilia Instebo 19:40. 62, Kelly Mayer 19:51. 80, Harley Arce
20:12. 179, Jenny Paul 23:30. 182, Ashleigh Giacomotti 23:36. 193, Rita Beltran 25:29.
Tuesday, Oct. 25 -- WSC Championships, hosted by Cuesta at Fairbanks Course, San Luis Obispo.
Women, men fifth in WSC Championships
Instebo, Garland guide Vaqueros to So Cal berths
Cecilia Instebo took 12th on Tuesday and Ben Garland finished 23rd at the WSC Cross Country Championships in San Luis Obispo, leading the SBCC women
and men to Southern Cal Championship berths.
The Vaquero teams both placed fifth in the 12-school field. Glendale claimed the
men’s and women’s titles.
Instebo was clocked in 20:06 on the 5K Fairbanks women’s course and teammate Kelly
Mayer took 13th in 20:10. Harley Arce was 20th in 21:00.
“Our top three ran really well and we moved up one place from the WSC Preview meet,”
noted coach Scott Fickerson, whose women earned their fourth straight trip to the
Southern Cal meet. “We had an average improvement of about a minute per runner from
the WSC Preview.”
SBCC placed five runners in the top 36 -- Garland (23rd, 22:37); Omar Padilla (25th, 22:39); Matt Bailey (31st, 23:01); Nery Gonzalez (35th, 23:17) and Chino Garnica (36th, 23:17).
Glendale’s Mizrael Mendez topped the field of 107 in 21:20.
“Our top three have been a little dinged-up, so it was up to our No. 4 and 5 runners
(Gonzalez and Garnica),” said Fickerson. “It was important for them to step up and
they did.
“Now we have another 10 days for our top three to get healthy.”
The Vaqueros will run in the Southern Cal Championships on Nov. 4 at Guasti Park
in Ontario.
WSC Championships
At Cuesta
Men
Team (12 schools) -- 1, Glendale 40. 5, SBCC 150. Note: Top 6 qualify for So Cal Championships.
Individual (4 miles) -- 1, Mizrael Mendez, Glendale, 21:20.
SBCC runners -- 23, Ben Garland 22:37. 25, Omar Padilla 22:39. 31, Matt Bailey 23:01.
35, Nery Gonzalez 23:17. 36, Chino Garnica 23:17. 57, Dennis Jonsson 24:40. 63, James
Leighton 25:23. 87, Andre Minassian 26:39.
Women
Team (12 schools) -- 1, Glendale 18. 5, SBCC 171.
Individual (5K) -- 1, Karen Rosas, Glendale, 18:30.
SBCC runners -- 12, Cecilia Instebo 20:06. 13, Kelly Mayer 20:10. 20, Harley Arce
21:00. 80, Ashleigh Giacomotti 25:17. 82, Rita Beltran 25:37. 88, Jenny Paul 26:16.
Friday, Oct. 14-- SBCC Invitational at Shoreline Park & Leadbetter Beach.
Men fifth, women sixth at SBCC Invitational
Four Vaqueros post top-10 finishes
Ben Garland placed eighth and Omar Padilla ninth on Friday, leading SBCC to a fifth-place
finish in the SBCC Cross Country Invitational at Shoreline Park. In the women’s race,
the Vaqueros took sixth, paced by Cecilia Instebo (9th) and Kelly Mayer (10th).
Garland, a freshman from Santa Cruz, was clocked in 22:14 and Padilla ran 22:22 on
the 4-mile course that started at Leadbetter Beach. Daniel Herrera of Cerritos won
the 128-man race in a course-record time of 21:19, one second ahead of teammate Munir
Kahssay.
Orange Coast, ranked No. 4 in Southern Cal, was the men’s champion with 43 points.
“Ben and Omar ran a tremendous race up front,” said SBCC coach Scott Fickerson.
“Fifth place is a solid finish for the men against a top field. It's great to run
strong at home and a good way to head into the WSC Championships.”
In the women’s 5K race, Instebo ran 21:15 and Mayer was clocked in 21:16, 33 seconds
faster that she ran in the WSC Preview on the same course a week earlier. Robinea
McClinton of Compton topped a field of 96 runners in 20:40.
Antelope Valley took the women’s team title with 52 points.
“The women ran great, I'm really proud of them,” Fickerson stated. “We had an average
of improvement of around 40-45 seconds over last week's race. That's just an amazing
effort.”
Men
Team (12 schools) -- 1, Orange Coast 43. 2, El Camino 62. 3, Cerritos 68. 4, Sequoias
134. 5, SBCC 156. 6, Fresno City 170. 7, Antelope Valley 178. 8, East L.A. 235.
Individual (4 miles) -- 1, Daniel Herrera, Cerritos, 21:19 (course record. 2, Munir
Kahssay, Cerritos, 21:20.
SBCC runners -- 8, Ben Garland 22:14. 9, Omar Padilla 22:22. 59, Nery Gonzalez 24:29.
67, Chino Garnica 24:46. 75, Jamison Leighton 25:03. 94, Dennis Jonsson 26:05. 107,
Mark Angelopoulos 27:19.
Women
Team (11 schools) -- 1, Antelope Valley 52. 2, Cerritos 93. 3, Victor Valley 100.
4, Sequoias 112. 5, Orange Coast 130. 6, SBCC 144. 7, Compton 172. 8, Fresno City
199.
Individual (5K) -- 1, Robinea McClinton, Compton, 20:40. 2, Bailey Henshaw, Sequoias,
20:41.
SBCC runners -- 9, Cecilia Instebo 21:15. 10, Kelly Mayer 21:16. 23, Harley Arce
22:15. 62, Ashleigh Giacomotti 25:39. 63, Jenny Paul 25:47. 76, Rita Beltran 27:55.
Friday, Oct. 7 -- WSC Preview at SBCC, Shoreline Park.
Women, men sixth at WSC Preview
Instebo 11th for women; Garland 14th for men
Cecilia Instebo, a sophomore from Sweden, placed 11th and Kelly Mayer finished 15th on Friday afternoon, leading the SBCC women to a sixth-place finish in the WSC Preview
cross country race at Shoreline Park.
Instebo covered the 5K course that started at Leadbetter Beach in 21:29. Mayer was
clocked in 21:49 and Harley Arce was 33rd in 23:12.
Devon Kelsey of Cuesta topped the field of 106 by 75 seconds in 20:07. Glendale was
the team champion with 22 points. SBCC placed sixth in the 11-team field with 189
points. The Preview counts 25 percent toward the WSC Championship.
“I’m real proud of our women,” said coach Scott Fickerson. “They ran tough on a very
challenging course. With injuries limiting us to only five runners, they came through
with a fine performance to keep us in contention for a strong WSC finish.
Ben Garland guided the SBCC men to a sixth-place showing by finishing 14th on the 4-mile course in a time of 22:31. Omar Padilla was 22nd in 22:54
L.A. Valley edged Glendale for the men’s title, 47-49, in the 12-school competition.
Mizrael Mendez of Glendale was the individual champ in 21:38.
“The men ran real strong today,” said Fickerson. “We were without two of our top
five due to injury. Nery Gonzalez and Jamison Leighton really stepped up as our No.
4 and 5 to keep us in good position for the WSC Finals.”
Men
Team -- 1, L.A. Valley 47. 2, Glendale 49. 3, Cuesta 71. 4, Ventura 130. 5, Moorpark
145. 6, SBCC 178. 7, Bakersfield 180. 8, Canyons 211. 9, Santa Monica 249. 10, Citrus
285. 11, Oxnard 295. 12, West L.A. 303
Individual (4 miles) -- 1, Mizrael Mendez, Glendale, 21:38. 2, Paul Denlinger, Cuesta,
21:50.
SBCC runners -- 14, Ben Garland 22:31. 22, Omar Padilla 22:54. 42, Chino Garnica
23:49. 52, Nery Gonzalez 24:29. 67, Jamison Leighton 25:22. 75, Dennis Jonsson 26:11.
86, Andre Minassian 27:28. 89, Mark Angelopoulos 27:50.
Women
Team -- 1, Glendale 22. 2, Moorpark 46. 3, Cuesta 64. 4, Canyons 175. 5, Bakersfield
178. 6, SBCC 189. 7, Ventura 191. 8, Oxnard 201. 9, Santa Monica 226. 10, Citrus 231.
11, West L.A. 313
Individual (5K) -- 1, Devon Kelsey, Cuesta, 20:07.
SBCC runners -- 11, Cecilia Instebo 21:29. 15, Kelly Mayer 21:49. 33, Harley Arce
23:12. 78, Ashleigh Giacomotti 26:20. 87, Jenny Paul 27:10.
Friday, Sept. 30 -- Southern Cal Preview at Guasti Park, Ontario. Women's race: 11 a.m. Men: Noon.
Instebo is 30th at So Cal Preview
Men are 12th; Women take 16th
SBCC sophomore Cecilia Instebo placed 30th in 19:56 on Friday in the Southern Cal Preview at Guasti Park in Ontario. Kelly Mayer
was 46th in 20:17 for the Vaquero women, who finished 16th.
Orange Coast went 1-2-3 and won the meet with 22 points.
"The women ran well,” said coach Scott Fickerson. “This field was about five times
as large as our last meet and that was pretty intimidating for our young squad. They
got out there and mixed it up and gained some valuable experience.
“We almost dipped into the top half (of teams), so that gives us a realistic shot
at a state championship qualifying spot when we come back here in November.”
Ben Garland (21:57) was 40th for the SBCC men and Omar Padilla (22:09) was 55th, leading the Vaqueros to a 12th-place finish. L.A. Trade Tech took the men’s race with 41 points.
“We ran without three of our top seve runners, so this was a good solid performance,”
said Fickerson. “Placing in the top 12 in such a large field with a limited squad
bodes well for our upcoming meets.”
The Vaqueros will host the WSC Preview on Oct. 7 and it will count 25 percent toward
the WSC team title.
So Cal Preview
Team -- 1, LA Trade Tech 41. 2, Orange Coast 106. 3, American River 113. 12, SBCC
411.
Individual -- 1, Daniel Herrera, Cerritos, 20:09. SBCC runners -- 40, Ben Garland
21:57. 55, Omar Padilla 22:09. 95, Chino Garnica 23:10. 127, Matthew Bailey 23:49.
156, Nery Gonzalez 24:25. 160, Jamison Leighton 24:30. 229, Andre Minassian 26:30.
233, Mark Angelopolous 26:43.
Women
Team -- 1, Orange Coast 22. 2, Mt. SAC 94. 3, Antelope Valley 117. 16, SBCC 440.
Individual -- 1, Analicia Silva, Orange Coast, 18:33. SBCC runners -- 30, Cecilia
Instebo 19:56. 46, Kelly Mayer 20:17. 57, Harley Arce 20:40. 171, Jenny Paul 23:46.
186, Rita Beltran 24:20. 226, Ashleigh Giacomotti 26:11.
Friday, Sept. 16-- Cuesta Invitational at San Luis Obispo, Women's race: 3 p.m.; Men's race: 3:45
p.m.
Instebo takes third at Cuesta Invite
Cecilia Instebo took third at the season-opening Cuesta Invitational on Friday, leading
the SBCC women’s cross country team to a fifth-place finish. She was clocked in 20:50.
Harley Arce was 12th for the Vaqueros in 22:01. Hartnell won the team title with
37 points. SBCC’s total was 109.
The SBCC men finished sixth, led by Matthew Bailey (12th in 22:30) and Ben Garland (14th, 22:33). L.A. Valley topped the men’s field with 51 points and the Vaqueros had 124.
“Our young team gained a lot of experience on a difficult course,” said coach Scott
Fickerson. “Cecilia and Harley ran excellent tactical races and moved up very well
over the course of the race. Like the men, we have a lot of work ahead of us, but
this race will serve us well as we turn our attention to our upcoming races.
“I saw a lot of potential in our men. We will be much improved when we return to
this course in six weeks for the WSC Championships. Matthew and Ben ran particularly
strong. It's a good start for us and we will progress from here.”
Cuesta Invitational
Men
Team -- 1, L.A. Valley 51. 2, Saddleback 71. 3, Hartnell 85. 6, SBCC 124.
Individual -- 1, Cristian Soratos, Hartnell, 21:07.
SBCC results -- 12, Matthew Bailey 22:30. 14, Ben Garland 22:33. 22, Omar Padilla-Lopez
23:11. 37, Matt Sarborg 24:01. 41, Chino Garnica 24:17. 46, Nery Gonzalez 24:34. 54,
Jamison Leighton 25:30.
Women
Team -- 1, Hartnell 37. 2, Cuesta 43. 3, Canyons 86. 5, SBCC 109.
Individual -- 1, Devon Kelsey, Cuesta, 19:38.
SBCC results -- 3, Cecilia Instebo 20:50. 12, Harley Arce 22:01. 33, Rita Beltran
25:54. 38, Jenny Paul 27:52. 39, Ashleigh Giacomotti 27:53.
