Four runners set PRs at SCIAC Championships

CHINO, Calif. – The men's and women's cross country teams competed in the SCIAC Championships at Prado Park on Saturday morning. Despite both teams coming in ninth place, a trio of men and junior Nika Cokas set personal records at the event.

The first to finish the men's 8K race was sophomore Drake Butler, who finished 32nd with a time of 27:47.53, beating his own personal record on that course by almost a full minute. Sophomore Chris Pai was just behind him, finishing with a PR time of 28:58.50, beating his 2016 time by three seconds.

Freshman Kian Deshler was the next to finish with a time of 29:27.89. Coming in next was junior Jonah Soltes, who beat his previous record by nearly a full minute, finishing with a new PR time of 30:05.63. Finishing next in the standings 15 seconds behind Soltes was sophomore Erick Garcia, who posted a time of 30:20.19. Freshman Max Lopez rounded out the men's side, finishing seven minutes later at 37:42.23.

On the women's side, junior Katie Maynard was the first to finish the 6K race with a time of 26:22.69, landing her in 37th place. Less than 40 seconds later was her teammate freshman Emma Eglinton, who finished with a time of 26:58.31.

Finishing within just three seconds of each other were Cokas and junior Mia Hernandez. Cokas set a personal record at this course, beating her previous time by 49 seconds and coming in at 27:04.89. Hernandez was on her heels, finishing with a time of 27:07.90.

Freshman Rylee Yee finished a few spots behind Cokas and Hernandez with a time of 27:50.76. Rounding out the women's race was freshman Savannah Lee, who finished with a time of 38:17.93.

"Congratulations to the team and individual champions", Coach Woods says. "The SCIAC Championship course at Prado Park is not made to be easy and the competitive atmosphere of this conference takes it up another level. As a coaching staff we are happy with a lot of the performances this morning. On both Men's and Women's races there were some significant course personal records. We also had some great first time competitors here on this course and they executed greatly. We are looking forward to western regionals in two weeks where we will bring our top runners from both groups, men and women."

The Panthers take a week off but head to Claremont, Calif. on Saturday Nov. 11 to compete in the NCAA Division III West Regionals.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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