Torres, Ramirez Qualify for State Cross Country

VC sophomore Brianna Torres finished 11th in the women's SoCal Regional race Friday, and Kevin Ramirez led the Pirates' men's team in 58th overall, as both qualified for the 3C2A State Championships to be held Nov. 23 in Fresno. The VC men's team finished 18th out of 26 competing teams overall, but did not qualify for state as a group.

Torres, VC's lone female competitor, covered the 5k course at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga in 19:35. Her individual placing out of 143 runners qualified her for the 3C2A State Championships for the second straight season.

Meanwhile, the Pirates men ran 18th overall out of 26 teams. Ramirez led the way with a time of 22:16 on the 4-mile course, earning 56 team points. He was followed by Nathaniel Lopez in 104th place (23:20, 98 points), Jonah Sloan (108th, 23:26, 102 points) and Ivan Aleman (19th, 23:26, 103 points). Other Pirate runners in the 183-man field included Carlos Oregel (117th, 23:39, 111 points), Cole Wenger (127th, 24:08, 118 points) and Eduardo Juarez-Cuevas (145th, 24:55, 135 points).   

Torres and Ramirez will run in the state championships on Saturday Nov. 23 at Fresno's Woodward Park.