11/21/10:
Grosso named All-OEC, finishes 73rd at state
 The men’s cross country team received a bit of good news this past week when sophomore Sam Grosso was name to the Orange Empire Conference All Conference Team. Grosso was the lone qualifier for the state meet on Saturday, finishing 73rd overall at Woodward Park in Fresno, California.
Grosso was named to the second team All-OEC after finishing with some of his personal best times of the season down the stretch. Grosso ran the 4-mile course at Woodward Park on Saturday 21:39.45, finishing less than a minute out of a top-15 finish. His time on Saturday was 22 seconds faster than his previous best of 22:01 in the Southern California Regional Finals
11/11/10: Grosso qualifies for the state XC meet
Men’s cross country runner Sam Grosso turned in a tremendous performance at the Southern California finals over the weekend, qualifying himself for the state meet next Saturday. Grosso ran a personal-best time in finishing fourth among runners from non-qualifying teams.
Grosso ran the 4-mile course in 22:01, shaving 38 seconds from his personal best a month ago. He finished 43rd overall, just 35 seconds from a top-20 finish in a race with 201 finishers.
Grosso will run in the state finals in Fresno next Saturday at Woodward Park.
Men compete at Mt. SAC invitational
 The Saddleback men's and women's cross country teams participated in the Mt. San Antonio cross country invitational on Friday, October 15, in what is billed as the world's largest cross country competition.
Saddleback only had two men entered in the men's race, yet the duo ran well to finish within the top 25 percent of the field. Sam Grosso (pictured) placed 18th overall in the field of 203 finishers, completing the 4-mile course in a time of 21:51. Josh Eisenberg placed 53rd in a time of 22:59.
The Saddleback women's team placed fifth out of 25 teams entered in the women's heat with Evonna Ramirez leading the way by placing 10th overall in the field of 169 runners with a time of 19:05. Chelsea Owens was 30th in a time of 19:56 with Kris Andersen placing 44th (20:26) and Amy Jystrad taking 70th (21:37).
The Gaucho harriers have nearly two weeks off before hosting the Orange Empire Conference championship meet at Oso Creek Park in Mission Viejo on Thursday, October 28.
Gaucho harriers look solid in opening meet
 The Saddleback men’s and women’s cross country teams were in action for the first time at the Palomar Invitational on Friday and turned in some solid efforts. The Gauchos finished fifth in the women’s bracket while the men had a top-5 finish in the individual results.
Jorge Ayala ran the 4-mile course in 21:25.52, finishing third out of 104 competitors. He finished just nine seconds out of second place and 39 seconds off the pace set by Dahir Mohammad of Southwestern College, who took home individual medalist honors. The Saddleback men also had fine performances by Sam Grosso (22:35.28) and Josh Eisenberg (24:06.77), who finished 14th and 40th respectively. Due to having just three runners, the Saddleback harriers did not qualify for a team score.
Saddleback’s women finished fifth out of 11 team, just five points behind rival Santa Ana College. The Gauchos were led by Evonna Ramirez, who finished the 3.2-mile course in 20:13.45, which was good enough for 13th place. Chelsea Owens also had a solid performance, finishing 19th with a time of 20:36.85 while Kris Anderson finished 29th, running the course in 22:12.04. Saddleback’s average team time of 21:58 was just three seconds behind the pace of fourth-place Santa Ana, while Southwestern College won the women’s team competition.
Both teams will compete again at the Cuesta Invitational on Saturday.
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