The Riverside City College men's cross country team appears to be in prime contention to capture its third consecutive Orange Empire Conference title next week when the teams converge upon the Oso Creek Trail in Mission Viejo for this year's conference championship.
The teams will meet at the Norman P. Murray Community Center (La Paz at Veteran's Way) before heading into the canyon for the 4-mile race. The men's event will start roughly at 10:00 a.m. following the women's race at 9:00 a.m.
Riverside placed third overall at the Southern California Preview race in mid-September, with freshman Enrique Villa placing second overall in a field of over 300 runners. Saddleback was the second conference team to finish, placing ninth overall while Santa Ana was 10th overall. Santa Ana sophomore Eric Jimeneznava finished third overall, just two seconds behind Villa. Fullerton and Orange Coast placed 19th and 20th, respectively, out of the 27 teams which scored during the race.
The Tigers also captured the Brubaker Invitational this season with 27 team points while Santa Ana placed second with 65 points and Fullerton finished sixth with 175 points.
After winning last year's Orange Empire Conference title, Riverside went on to capture the 2016 CCCAA state championship.
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