5CTCA announces Runners of the Week for final regular-season weekend of 2024

November 12, 2024

SALINAS - The action heated up as teams prepared for last week's regional championships. The last of the NorCal and SoCal conference championships were recently with this week's recipients ranging from first time conference champions to a pivotal scoring runner.

At the Orange Empire Conference Championship held at Central Park in Huntington Beach, Saddleback's Midori McConathy lowered her course PR by nearly 90 seconds to not just secure an all-conference honor for her 12th-place finish but pushed the Bobcats to a one-point victory. The Saddleback women tallied 40 points to best runner-up Orange Coast College by one point and third-place Riverside City by two points. RCC sophomore Khailil O'Brien improved on his fifth-place finish last year to give RCC the overall champion in 20:39. Obrien is leading a Tiger squad once again peaking for the championship season.

Up north, it didn't Lake Tahoe Community College more than a couple of years since its return as a program to rack up back-to-back female individual conference champions. Caitlin Fulbright used a strong final mile to earn the Golden Valley Conference title in 18:40 at Shasta College. Alan Solari was in sixth place heading into the final 600 meters of the Big 8 Championship when he launched into the form that saw him win the NorCal 1500 title during last spring's track season. Solari jumped from fourth as a freshman to win on his home course.

(Chris Zepeda, 5CTCA)

The action is heating up as teams prep for the upcoming regional Championships. The last of the North and South conference Championships were held last week with this week's recipients ranging from first time conference champions to a pivotal scoring runner.

At the Orange Empire Conference Championship held at Central Park in Huntington Beach, Saddleback's Midori McConathy lowered her course PR by nearly 90 seconds to not just secure an all-Conference honor for her 12th place finish but push the Bobcats to a one point victory. The Saddleback women tallied 40 points to best runner-up Orange Coast College by one point and third place Riverside City by two points. RCC sophomore Khailil O'Brien improved on his fifth place finish last year to give RCC the overall champion in 20:39. Obrien is leading a Tiger squad once again peaking for the championship season.

Up North, it didn't Lake Tahoe Community College more than a couple of years since it's return as a program to rack up back to back female individual conference champions. Caitlin Fulbright used a strong final mile to earn the Golden Valley Conference title in 18:40 at Shasta College. Alan Solari was in sixth place heading into the final 600m of the Big 8 Championship when he launched into the form that saw him win the Norcal 1500 title last spring. Solari jumped from fourth as a freshman to winning on his home course.