Sage Holter Takes Second to Lead Vaqueros at WSC Preview Meet

LOS ANGELES, CA – The SBCC cross country team had its third competition on Friday at the WSC Preview Meet hosted by Pierce College.

 

On a sunny day of 84 degrees, 50 runners toed the line representing 13 Western State Conference colleges. The WSC Preview meet is a race that serves as a demonstration of the course which will host the following year's conference championship. It also serves as the first meet of the season where all 13 WSC teams toe the line head to head and provides a good glimpse of where teams and individuals stand with three weeks left to prepare before they meet again with much more at stake.

 

 

Heading straight to the front of the pack, SBCC's Sage Holter did not fear the challenging, hilly course, nor the warm temperatures. Trading the lead with two runners from Bakersfield and Ventura Colleges over the first two miles, Holter bided her time before making a strong move for the win.

 

Heading into the final 2 climbs of the race, she surged forward attempting to open a gap over the other two knowing they had both been pulling away from her on the course's downhill sections. Opening a 5-10 second lead by the top of the final hill was enough to seal the win over the Ventura runner, but Bakersfield's Rain Gomez showed the speed that placed her 4th in last spring's CCCAA 1500m final pulling away to win overall in 19:25.

 

Holter held on strongly for 2nd place, her highest finish of the season thus far, in a strong 19:45. 

 

Coach Scott Fickerson noted, "This is not a course we have raced since 2009 and we didn't know it well. It's a course that lends itself well to tactics. I can think of some things we might have done differently, but hindsight is 20-20. Sage ran a strong race and we are both excited to see what we can do to close the gap on Rain over the next three races."

 

All three SBCC runners got out more aggressively today than they have previously which, given the heat and the challenging nature of the course, made for a challenging day. Alex Rosillo led the way for the Vaqueros at the mile marker coming through around 25th place with his teammate Samuel Buenaventura following close behind.

 

Also out well was Bennett Christensen. Sam continued to move well through the challenging terrain which continually twisted and turned through undulating ups and downs. Alex and Bennett held tough, but both gradually lost ground in the middle miles.

 

Over the final mile Samuel had moved himself up to 23rd place finishing just under 6:00 average per mile at 23:57. Alex bounced back with a strong final mile passing several runners and ended up in 32nd place at 25:11. Bennett held on strongly to finish 66th of the 94 finishers at 27:35.

 

In three weeks time, individual qualifiers for Southern California Championships will be determined. Should Sam and Alex place the same or better in that race they would be the #1 and #3 qualifiers respectively and move on to compete at Bakersfield for a spot at the CCCAA Championships at Woodward Park Fresno.  

 

"All three men got out aggressively today, which given the conditions and course layout may not have been the best idea, but I'm glad they did it," said Fickerson. "They needed to test themselves a bit today to see what is possible. We now know what we need to do over the next 3 weeks to extend our season. I'm proud of how they raced and I look forward to seeing them improve further in a few weeks."

 

NEXT UP
The Vaqueros will have several weeks to prepare for their next run at the WSC Championships at Arroyo Vista Park on Friday, Oct. 21.