Saddleback Cross Country Teams Miss State Meet

            Saddleback’s men's and women's cross country teams placed in the middle of the pack at last weekend's Southern California regional championship race, narrowly missing the cut to participate as a team at the state championship meet on November 17.

            The men's team placed 15th out of 33 teams, led by Matt Van Dyke's 28th place finish overall in the field of 221 runners. He completed the 4-mile course in 22:02. Jason Beadle (23:06) placed 80th overall while Bobby Stangl (23:07) placed 82nd. Chris Drozd (23:21) finished 93rd. Those four men will represent Saddleback as individuals in the state championship meet.

            The women's team placed 18th in the field of 33 teams, led by freshman Ines Flores' 11th place finish in a time of 19:11 over the 5-kilometer course. Reagan Amendola (21:45) placed 95th overall and Sophia Dossland (21:47) placed 96th in the field of 233 runners. Flores and Amendola will run in the state meet as individuals while Dossland is the first alternate.

            Because the conference championship was cancelled due to poor air quality during the recent wildfires, the Southern California regional also served as the conference championship race. Van Dyke and Flores each earned all-conference honors for their race efforts. Van Dyke finished fifth among all Orange Empire Conference competitors in the men's race while Flores was the third conference finisher in the women's race.

            The state championship is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. at Woodward Park in Fresno on November 17.

Saddleback Cross Country Runners Do Well In Surf City

SADDLEBACK CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS DO WELL IN SURF CITY
Saddleback’s men’s and women’s cross country teams ran well in last weekend’s Golden West Invitational held at Central Park in Huntington Beach.
In a field of 11 teams and 109 runners, Saddleback placed fourth as a team with freshman Matt Van Dyke finishing fourth overall. He posted a time of 19:51 over the four mile course. Freshman Bobby Stangl placed 18th overall, hitting the tape in 20:11, while Miguel Lopez (20:58) and Stephen Tippett (21:04) finished 36th and 37th, respectively.

The women’s team placed seventh in a field of 12 teams and 69 runners. Freshman Ines Flores paced the Gauchos by finishing sixth overall (18:50) on the 5-kilometer course. Sophia Dossland placed 30th overall (20:53) with Brittany Lawrence (21:15) and Liz Castro (21:21) placing 34th and 35th, respectivel

The Gauchos are scheduled to compete in the Bakersfield Invitational this Friday

2007 Gauchos Run Well at Fresno Meet

The Saddleback men’s and women’s cross country teams continue to run well this season, placing 12th and 8th respectively at the Fresno Invitational held last Saturday in the Central Valley.
Matt Van Dyke placed 29th overall (21:46) in the field of 268 runners to lead the Gauchos while Bobby Stangl was just a few strides behind in 33rd place (21:48) on the 4-mile course. Jason Beadle (22:43) placed 87th, Stephen Tippett (22:51) placed 95th, and Miguel Lopez (22:53) finished 98th as Saddleback’s placefinishers all finished within the top 100 runners.
On the women’s side, Ines Flores finished 10th overall (19:44) in the field of 182 women racers on the 5k course. Brittany Laurence (21:36) placed 58th overall while Maricela Torres (21:37) placed 59th.
Both strong finishes by the cross country teams come on the heels of a season-opening Orange Empire Conference preview race the weekend prior. The women’s team placed third out of six conference schools in that race as Flores finished ninth overall (19:19). Torres placed 22nd (20:46), Laurence was 25th (20:57), and Sophia Dossland was 26th (21:01). The Saddleback men’s team placed fourth in the field of seven teams, led by Van Dyke’s eighth place finish (21:38) and Stangl’s ninth place finish (21:38). Beadle ended up 15th (22:11) out of 59 conference runners.
Saddleback will participate in the Golden West Invitational this Saturday in Huntington Beach.

2006 Cross Country News

Kyle Hughes wins the OEC Championship race and teammate Chris Drozd placed fourth. The Gauchos went on to place 9th as a team in the Southern California Regional Championship and qualified for the state meet on November 19.

IVAN GARCIA WINS CONFERENCE INDIVIDUAL TITLE

Saddleback College freshman Ivan Garcia won the individual title at the Orange Empire Conference championship race on Saturday at Irvine Regional Park. Garcia's effort to top the field of 73 runners gave Saddleback the individual champion for the second consecutive year, following in the footsteps of 2005 champion Kyle Hughes.
Garcia covered the course in 21:08 and the Gauchos placed third as a team with Jason Beadle finishing 11th (22:06), Jonathan Ramirez placing 16th (22:21), James Finona finishing 19th (22:44) and Jorge Gonzales finishing 21st (22:51).
Saddleback's harriers will now compete in the Southern California regional championship on Saturday, November 4, in Lancaster.
The Gaucho women's team placed fourth at the conference finals and also qualified for the So Cal regional meet. Maricela Torres was the team's top finisher, placing 14th in the field of 49 finishers. Jenny Stangl finished 20th overall (22:46) while Brittany Lawrence and Sophia Dossland battled for 22nd and 23rd place, both crossing the tape in 24:10.

2005 Cross Country News

GAUCHO HARRIERS IN STATE MEET

Saddleback College qualified its entire men’s cross country team for the California community college state championship meet to be held at Woodward Park in Fresno this Saturday, November 19, at 11:00 a.m.
It’s the first time since 2001 that the Gauchos have qualified as a team for the state championship race. That 2001 team placed 16th in the state.
The Gauchos qualified for the state meet by placing ninth at the Southern California regional championship race on November 4 on the U.C. San Diego course. That top 10 finish was the best regional placing for the Gauchos since 1997 when the team placed fourth in Southern California and went on to finish sixth in the state under the coaching guidance of John Klink.
Saddleback will have only one runner with state championship experience. Sophomore Kyle Hughes qualified as an individual runner in last year’s state championship race and placed 43rd in the field of 179 runners. It’s expected that Hughes will place much higher this year.
Hughes, the Gauchos’ top runner, won the Irvine Invitational on October 8 and then captured the Orange Empire Conference championship individual title on October 28. His performances earned him the state’s male Athlete of the Month honor for October. Hughes placed fifth at the Southern California regional championship in a field of 187 runners to earn all-Southern California regional honors and will be shooting for a top 10 finish at the state meet.
Chris Drozd (San Marcos HS), Jonathan Ramirez (San Clemente HS), and Marc Russell (San Clemente HS) are also expected to finish in the first half of the pack. The three freshmen had solid races in October and placed in the top half of all finishers at the regional championship.