Santa Ana Men, Women Win Titles at Santa Barbara Cross-Country Event

The Santa Ana College men’s and women’s cross-country teams won titles at the Santa Barbara Invitational Saturday.

It was the third invitational victory for the Santa Ana men’s team and the second for the women’s team this season.

In the men’s competition, Santa Ana’s Alfonso Leon finished first in 21 minutes 23 seconds on the four-mile course, and teammate Jose Herrera was second in 21:31.

The Dons had 23 points, Antelope Valley was second with 88 and Fresno was third with 92.

The Dons are off until Oct. 30 when they host the Orange Empire Conference championships at Irvine Park.

Jenni Bair of Santiago Canyon became the first runner from the college, which is in its first year of competition, to win an individual title. She won the women’s race in 19:48, helping the Hawks finish second in the team standings with 91 points.

The Santa Ana women finished first with 32 points as Francisca Flores finished third in 20:12. The Dons’ Monica Martinez was fourth in 20:16 and Cristol Hernandez was fifth in 20:18.

In the Western State women’s volleyball challenge:

Golden West 3, Santa Barbara 2--Grace Boyd had 20 kills and Ashley Ferris had 16 to lead the six-time defending state champion Rustlers to a 15-5, 15-4, 9-15, 11-15, 15-12 victory in the championship match at Santa Barbara.

It was the first time this season that Golden West was extended to five games.

Golden West (11-0) trailed, 9-7, in the final game, but scored six straight points behind the serving of Natalie Snowden to pull away. Santa Barbara is 10-1.

Golden West 3, Cuesta 0--Natalie Snowden had 11 kills and Marissa Cothran had 48 assists to lead the Rustlers to a 15-3, 15-6, 15-8 semifinal victory.

In the Citrus women’s water polo tournament:

Orange Coast 9, Citrus 3--Orange Coast, ranked third in the state, lost a heartbreaker to Mt. San Antonio, 4-2, in the semifinals but defeated Citrus in the third-place game.

Melissa Reidenbaugh came on strong in the first quarter, scoring three for OCC.

The championship game was won by Riverside. OCC beat College of the Canyons and Rio Hondo in previous games.