November 21, 2009

California State Championships
Woodward Park, Fresno

American River College Lady Beavers finish an impressive 9^th place in the California Community College State Meet Championships on Sat. Nov. 21, 2009. With 26 teams qualifying forward in this prestigious meet that hosted over 200 competitors, the beavers edged out many Southern California teams, as well as Sacramento City, Modesto, Fresno, and many more.

Freshman standout Courtney Anderson led the team with her 35^th place finish in her lifetime best mark of (19:29).  She was followed by team captain Claire Jenkins who sliced 11 seconds off her previous mark on this course at (19:34). Next was teammate Danna Juarez with her lifetime best mark of (20:31), followed by Michelle Reyes (20:33), Anna Mendoza (21:41), Monique Leacox (22:11) and Kelsey Slagle (22:11).

“We thought we would have a respectable finish to break into the top 15 teams, so to come out in the top ten was a great testament to all these ladies hard work and efforts”, says Coach Powless.

November 7, 2009

NorCal Championships

American River College was the top school combined for men and women at the California Community College Northern California Championships on Nov. 7, 2009. While the men finished a strong 2^nd, the women finished 4^th, of the 18 Community Colleges who qualified to compete on the Crystal Springs/Belmont Hills in San Mateo.

Claire Jenkins who has led her squad in every race this year was 4^th overall with a lifetime best of 18:51. This new mark also places her second, on the Crystal Springs Hall of Fame Course Record. She made this by combining her time with her dad’s previous mark onto the second generation marks.

Courtney Anderson was our second beaver, also making the All NorCal Team by finishing 10th with her personal best of 19:32.  Next was teammate Michelle Reyes (20:25), followed by Anna Mendoza (20:31),  Danna Juarez with her lifetime best (21:09), Monique Leacox (22:19) and Kelsey Slagle (22:45).  “We had just about every lady hit a best mark in these Championships. We are so proud to qualify on to the state meet championships where we will continue to represent our school with great performances, sportsmanship, and integrity," says Coach Powless.

Next up for the lady beavers is the California Community College State Meet Championships in Woodward Park, Fresno on Sat. Nov. 21.

October 30, 2009

Big 8 Conference Championships

A solid yet close competition at the Big 8 Conference Championships saw the Beavers just getting edged out for 2^nd place in Santa Rosa on the Spring Lake 5k Course.

Claire Jenkins was 3^rd overall in 19:21, followed by Michelle Reyes (20:06), Anna Mendoza (20:24), Courtney Anderson (20:35), Danna Juarez ( 21:25), Kelsey Slagle (22:37), Veronica Pardo (22:55) and Monique Leacox (24:55).  It was a solid performance even though so many ladies have been sick over the past few weeks.  “We are looking forward to coming back stronger in our Northern California Championships up next”, says Coach Powless.

Up next for the beavers is the Northern California Championships on Sat. Nov. 7^th, in San Mateo, on the Crystal Springs course.

October 16, 2009

Mt. Sac.  Invitational

Beaver ladies round up another good performance at the 35^th annual Mt. San. Antonio Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 16, 2009.  With 39 teams in attendance, the ladies were the first team from Northern California and were the 9^th place community college from California.

Sophomore stand out Claire Jenkins led the squad by finishing 20:17 over this prestigious and challenging 5K.  Courtney Anderson came through in (20:23), followed by Anna Mendoza (21:13), Michelle Reyes (22:44) and Danna Juarez (22:50). Monique Leacox and Kelsey Slagle finished up the beaver squad.

October 9, 2009

Viking Invitational
Newhall Park, Concord

Another win for the ARC Cross Country team at the Viking Invitational on October 9, 2009 at Newhall Park hosted by Diablo Valley College. Team scores were as follows:

   1) ARC-26
   2) Santa Rosa-57
   3) Santa Jose-63
   4) Diablo Valley-82

Claire Jenkins led the team with her 3^rd place finish in 21:00. She was working with teammate Anna Mendoza who finished 4^th in 21:21. Courtney Anderson and  Monique Leacox tied for 8^th in 22:29, followed by Michelle Reyes and Veronica Pardo. Pardo was the most improved slicing 35 seconds off her previous best to finish in 22:30.  Mary Pena also posted a personal best with teammate Kelsey Slagle.   

Next week (Oct. 16^th) is the prestigious Mt. Sac. Invitational in Southern California.

October 2, 2009

Crystal Springs
Belmont Hills, San Mateo

The closest competition of the season came on the Belmont Hills cross country course in San Mateo on October 2, 2009. With just 2 points separating 2-4^th place teams. ARC women came in a close 4^th with 94 points after De Anza 93, Cerritos 92 and Hartnell 74. Sacramento City was fifth (125) followed by Academy of Arts (145), Modesto (189), Fresno (209), Butte (218), Sierra (221) to round out the top 10 teams.

No surprise was Claire Jenkins leading her squad by finishing 4^th in 19:26 over the challenging and hilly course.  Courtney Anderson was the next beaver in 19:53 followed by Michelle Reyes (20:43), Anna Mendoza (21:03), Danna Juarez (22:06), Monique Leacox (23:02) and Kelsey Slagle (24:27) to round out the top seven beavers.

Next week is the Diablo Valley College Invitational on Friday, October 9 in Concord.

September 24, 2009

Lou Vasquez Invitational
Golden Gate Park

All eleven of the ARC Beaver Cross Country ladies finished with a seasonal best time at the Golden Gate Park Course in San Francisco on Thursday, September 24. 

No surprise was sophomore team leader, Claire Jenkins, who led the team to another 2nd place finish in the field of 14 full finishing teams.  Jenkins was 7th overall in 19:16.  She was followed by Courtney Anderson at 19:40, Michelle Reyes (20:26), Anna Mendoza (21:08), Danna Juarez (21:22), Monique Leacox (22:14), Kelsey Slagle who sliced 3:06 off her previous best (22:34), Veronica Pardo (23:06) and Mary Pena (24:59).

"I told the team we could get an average time of 20:30, and they actually had an average of 20:23.  It was great to see such significant improvements this early in the season", says coach Powless. 

Team scores were:

1) LA Trade Tech
2) ARC
3) De Anza
4) Cuesta
5) Sac City
5) Hartnell
7) Moorpark
8) Modesto
9) Fresno
10) Santa Rosa
11) San Francisco
12) Butte
13) San Jose
14) Allan Hancock 

September 19, 2009

Beaver Invitational
American River College

Racking up their first win of the season, the ARC Cross Country ladies swept the title with an impressive 23 points.  Hot conditions along with a challenging course at Beal’s Point/Folsom Lake made this event more impressive.  Fresno was second with 54 points followed by Santa Rosa with 58.  Other competing schools include Diablo Valley, Delta, West Hills and Butte.  On the challenging

Claire Jenkins led her squad again finishing second with her 19:49.  She was followed by teammates Courtney Anderson (20:33), Michelle Reyes (21:03), Simone Julian (21:40), Anna Mendoza (21:54), Danna Juarez (22:30), Monique Leacox (22:57), Veronica Pardo ( 23:19) and Kim Duke (24:58).

“We had a good 1-5 spread in just 2:05, which is really good for this early in the season.  Also, with an average 5k time of 20:59, we’re moving in the right direction to get them all under 20 by the end of the season”, says Coach Powless.

September 12, 2009

Fresno Invitational

ARC Lady Beavers opened their season with a good showing at the Fresno Invitational. With 27 community colleges in attendance ARC finished 9^th and were awarded the 2^nd place team from Northern California. 

Returning sophomore standout Claire Jenkins (of Pioneer HS) led her team with her 19:46, 5K for 17^th overall, followed by Courtney Anderson (Folsom HS) 20:28, 38^th. The only other sophomore, Michelle Reyes, was next in 63^rd at 21:21. Anna Mendoza (Roseville HS) was the 4^th beaver lady 21:57, followed by Monique Leacox (Canyon Oaks HS) in 22:45 to round out the top 5 finishers.

"It was a good showing for our season opener” says Coach Powless. “We have a wonderful group of ladies who are willing to work hard for their team. I’m really optimistic about the possibilities for this years squad”.

Next week (September 19) is the only home cross country meet at Beale’s Point (Folsom Lake). It’s The Beaver Invitational with starting times of 10:00 for the women and 11:00 for the men. Come out and cheer on these great squads.  Go Beavers!