The San Diego Mesa College men’s and women’s cross country team swept the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Championships which concluded at Norco College on Friday. Sophomores Mohussin Abakar (Omaha Central HS) and Juan Rosales (Murrieta Valley HS) captured the women’s and men’s individual titles respectively. 

Abakar finished the 5K course in 18:54.5. She was followed by Brianna King of Chaffey College 19:05.8. A trio of Olympians then followed to round out the top 5 finishers, Kyana Cook 19:07.5, Sophie Moser-Smith 19:28.4, and Presley Bennett 19:33.7. 

With a total of 17-points and all 8 women finishing in the top 15, the Olympians placed first with a team time of 1:37.5, followed by Cuyamaca College 1:47.25, SD City College 1:52.18, Southwestern College 1:58.15, and Imperial Valley College 1:25.11 All eight runners earned all-conference honors and will be competing at the SoCal Championships at Bakersfield College. 

The men’s 4 mile race was dominated by the Olympians. Juan Rosales led the pack and captured the individual title turning in a time of 21:04.0. With the exception of Jose Arredondo of Cuyamaca College who placed 6th (21:20.9), nine of the first ten finishers hail from Mesa College. 

The men’s team turned in a total time of 1:45.46 capturing the 2022 title followed by Cuyamaca College 1:52.34, SD City College 1:18.28, Imperial Valley College 59:54, and Southwestern College 23:51. 

Both teams will travel to Bakersfield, CA on Friday, November 4th to compete at the Southern California Championships. The event will be held at the Kern County Soccer Complex. Race is scheduled to begin at 10:00AM.