Crush women (3rd), men (5th) qualify for state after finishes at NorCal Championships

The Crush women (left) brought home a third-place trophy while sophomore Mohamed Saleh (right) earned all-region honors with his seventh-place finish at the Northern California Championships.
The Crush women (left) brought home a third-place trophy while sophomore Mohamed Saleh (right) earned all-region honors with his seventh-place finish at the Northern California Championships.
November 8, 2019

Both the Clovis Community College women's and men's cross country teams have qualified for the state championships for the second consecutive season following their third and fifth place finishes at the Northern California Regional Championships on Friday at Toro Park in Salinas.

Led by freshman Alyssa Freeman's sixth-place showing, the Crush women scored 118 points to finish behind host Hartnell College (29 points) and Sierra College (109 points) in the event's top-three.

Freeman cleared the 3-mile course with a season-best time of 19:15.1 and earned All-Northern California honors. Not far behind was freshman Toni Payton in 16th place with her time of 19.47.2.

Clovis had four more in the top-50, as sophomore Alyssa Canales finished 27th overall at 20:16.3, sophomore Lily Kahn was 45th with 21:08.5, freshman Natalie Curtis was 48th at 21:12.2, and freshman Kalana Sawyer took 50th with a time of 21:20.0. Freshman Clarissa Luna closed out the event for the Crush, running 21:45.5 for 59th place.

Julia Gonzalez of Diablo Valley won the women's individual title, clearing the course with her time of 18:21.1. Hartnell had the next four finishers before Freeman broke the string.

The Crush men totaled 135 points and were once again led by Mohamed Saleh. The sophomore finished seventh overall with his time of 20:38.2 at the 4-mile Toro course.

Sophomore Chris Watkins was up next for the Crush, taking 17th place at 21:16.0. Also finishing among the top-50 for Clovis was freshman Seth Frazier in 31st at 21:40.5, sophomore Russel Zelazo in 38th with 21.59.9, and sophomore Jared Orth was 43rd with a time of 22:10.3.

Closing out the regionals for the men were freshman Abraham Cordova in 52nd place at 22:24.4 and sophomore Christian Shehadey in 75th with 23:24.8.

American River College won the men's team title with 41 points, followed by College of the Sequoias (71 points), De Anza College (97 points), and host Hartnell (109 points). Ismael Ramirez was the men's individual winner, clearing the course with a time of 19:56.1.

Both Crush women's and men's squads will compete at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Cross Country Championships on Nov. 23 at nearby Woodward Park in Fresno.