South Coast Conference Championships Preview

The trail to the California Community College State Championships begins Friday at Heartwell Park in Long Beach, as the top teams will advance from the South Coast Conference Championships to compete at the Southern California Championships on Nov. 8 at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga.

For the previous 12 seasons, a podium placer at the state final has come from the South Coast Conference.

On the men’s side, Mt. SAC looks to make it 10 championships in a row in the 4-mile race at 10:45 a.m.

After an impressive showing Oct. 18 at the Mt. SAC Invitational where the Mounties went 1-4-5-7-8 against other state-ranked teams, defending champion Aiden Gomez will have a tough time repeating as many of his teammates are running well, including 2022 champion Austin Ledgerwood.

The last time the South Coast Conference had a repeat champion was David Cardona of El Camino College in 2009-10.

Cerritos College finished third a year ago behind El Camino and those teams are ranked fourth and ninth, respectively, in Southern California.

The Mt. SAC women look to chase the men’s dynasty, but are sitting at three conference titles in a row entering the 5-kilometer final at 10 a.m. 

The Mounties are currently ranked second in Southern California and No. 5 Cerritos was runner-up behind Mt. SAC a year ago.

The race for the women’s individual title looks to be a battle.

Sherlyn Gomez of L.A. Harbor College has run well all season after opening up Aug. 30 with a win at the conference preview meet.

East L.A. sophomore Kiyoko Divecchio has come on strong towards the end of the regular season, including a runner-up finish at the Mt. SAC Invitational.

Don’t count out Ava Cornell for the Mounties after her big win in 19:01 at the Mt. SAC Invitational.