FRESNO - The already-impressive trophy case owned by the Orange Coast College women's cross country team got a little bit more crowded on Saturday, thanks to a 15th team state championship won by the Pirates at the California Community College Athletic Association State Meet.
With a deep and talented group of runners leading the way, Coast earned the top spot at Fresno's Woodward Park with a team score of 79 points, far ahead of runner-up Glendale (100 points) and third place Moorpark (139).
Nearly a fourth of the top-20 runners in the race wore the familiar bright-orange uniforms of the Pirates en route to the school's 83rd state championship in school history.
"This group worked very hard all season and worked very well as a team over the past several weeks to help us get to where we are now," OCC head coach Marco Ochoa said. "They really showed some purpose (on Saturday) and all of them ran a very smart race out there. The credit goes to the whole team. Their hard work and dedication helped them earn this title."
As she did in the Southern California Regional Meet, Karen Silvas led the Pirates, finishing eighth on the 5K course with a time of 18 minutes, 37.77. With her top-14 finish, Silvas -- freshman standout from Segerstrom HS -- earned a spot on the All-America team.
Leanne Allen was the next Coast runner to cross the finish line, taking 16th overall with a time of 18:59 and close behind was teammate Chelsea Clifford, who took 17th at 19:00.
Carmille Garcia finished 21st overall with a time of 19:07, while Nisreen Rizk clocked in with a 23rd-place time of 19:08.72, putting all five-point scorers inside the top-25 for OCC.
The history of Pirate women's cross country is extensive and impressive. Coast ripped through the competition from 2001-2006, winning a state-record six straight state championships.
The 2012 title now gives Coast at lease one state title in four different decades (1980s, 90s, 00s, 10s). And, the future looks bright for another successful season in 2013 as four of Coast's top seven runners on Saturday -- Silvas, Allen, Rizk and Raeanna Cortez (29th, 19:20.4) are all freshmen. Sophomore Maria Matias also performed well throughout the season and finished 43rd (19:36.31).
"Early on, I wasn't sure how strong we really were," Ochoa said. "By about the third race, however, I began to see that we were pretty good and I saw the hard work from the ladies really begin to pay off."