UCC cross country competes at Southern Regions

191106 UCC cross country OREGON CITY, Ore. -- The Umpqua Community College cross country teams competed in the Southern Region Championships hosted by Clackamas Community College, the college reported.

It was the first time that the RiverHawks competed in a meet consisting only of community colleges.

Schools represented in the Southern Region include Chemeketa (women only), Clackmas, Clark, Lane, Mt. Hood, Southwestern Oregon, Treasure Valley, Umpqua.

The UCC men took to the starting line of the 8k at 11:00 a.m., followed by the women for the 5k at 12:00 p.m.

The top placer for the men was Paesen Timm in 13th place with a time of 27:41. The next three members of the team crossed as a pack. Jaime Mejia-German finished in 20th (28:28), Konrad Raum finished in 21st (28:36), and Derek O'Connor finished in 22nd (28:37). Scoring as the team's number five for the first time was Ben Teslyuk in 34th place with a new personal best of 30:13. As a team, the men finished 4th at the meet.

"We were positioned well to take a run at a second-place finish, but faded the last two miles," said Coach King. "Even though we faded and didn't have the team race as we had planned on, we have to keep in mind that we are leaps and bounds ahead of last year. We are still very excited for Conference in two weeks and are looking to compete well."

On the women's side, the RiverHawks finished 3rd overall as a team. Once again, leading the was Jasmine Lake. She completed the 5k with her second fastest time of the season with a 19:59 and placed 8th overall. The next two to finish were Savanna Waters in 18th place (21:08) and Jaesa Ructi in 19th place (21:13). Having a breakout race was Rylee Parsons. She ran a new personal best of 21:49 and finished 25th overall. Rounding out the top five was Michel Bartlett in 31st place (22:35).

"I was very proud of how the women competed today," said Coach King. "Halfway through we were in the four/five position and they moved up in the second half; it was a very inspirational run."

Up next for the team is the NWAC Conference Championships on Monday, November 18. The meet is in Lacey, Wash., hosted by St. Martin's University. The women compete at 11 a.m. followed by the men at 12 p.m.

Results from the meet can be found here.

UCC Women

8. Jasmine Lake 19:59

18. Savanna Waters 21:08

19. Jaesa Ruchti 21:49

25. Rylee Parsons 21:49

31. Michel Bartlett 22:35

42. Ashanti Potter 24:33

UCC Men

13. Paesen Timm 27:41

20. Jaime Meija-German 28:28

21. Konrad Raum 28:36