COTTONWOOD, Calif. - On a cool, sunny day at West Valley High School, the Red Hawks men's and women's cross country teams defended their Cal Pac title with a men's and women's sweep that included individual winners.
Sophomore Justin Montoya set the tone for the Red Hawks as he defended his title with a blazing 27:20.01 in the men's 8k, shaving 20 seconds off his championship run last year to secure Male Runner of the Year honors.
The first three finishers came from Simpson, as Cade Salsedo finished behind Montoya with a 28:14.98, picking up 1st Team All-Conference honors. Alexander Reusze took third place to earn 1st Team All-Conference honors for the second year in a row with a time of 29:50.05.
Matthew Viramontez finished with a nail-biting 31:18.10 for fifth place, coming just two-hundredths of a second behind PUC's Jonathan Rodriguez. Nevertheless, Viramontez picked up 1st Team All-Conference honors.
Rounding out the Simpson cross country squad were Laith Wolske in 11th place with a time of 36:12.0, Ethan Phillips in 17th place with a time of 41:31.06, and Bryan Berry in 22nd place with a time of 45:08.95.
The men's team accumulated four all-conference honors, one All-Academic honor by Salsedo, and Viramontez being named the Champion of Character.
The women's squad followed up the men's stellar performance by taking the top four spots in the women's 6k race.
Kylie Erickson highlighted the women's side as she earned Female Runner of the Year honors with a 25:37.88 time,securing 1st Team All-Conference honors.
Kezia Pierce finished runner-up behind her Simpson teammate with a 29:01.24 to earn 1st Team All-Conference honors.Nevia Parsons and Kira Lewis finished third and fourth respectively, with Parsons clocking in at 30:47.82 and Lewis checking in with a 30:58.84 to earn 1st Team All-Conference honors.
Michelle Sams rounded out the women's squad's 1st Team All-Conference selections with a sixth-place finish, clocking in at 32:22.84. Alexis Heredia wrapped up the women's scoring with a 10th-place finish and a time of 33:12.21.
The women's team picked up four five all-conference selections, two all-academic selections highlighted by Heredia and Pierce, and the Champions of Character award presented to Pierce.
With the dominant performance, Head Coach Jonathan Hall took home Cal Pac Coach of the Year honors, aided by assistant coach Elena Bruckner.
Up next is Nationals for the Red Hawks cross country squad, as they will travel to Vancouver to compete on the national stage.
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