SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The Santa Ana College Cross Country program packed its bags and traveled to Santa Clarita to compete in the 2017 Cross Country SoCal Finals held at Central Park on Friday, November 3^rd.

Santa Ana's women took the stage first, racing on a 5k course against 25 other teams. The Dons took 17^th place as a team falling just out of reach of a CCCAA State appearance. Although the Don women did not qualify as a team, they will send Andrea Anaya to state as an individual after her strong performance in the race. Anaya came in 92^nd place with a time of 22.02.1 to lead the Dons.

"I'm so proud of Andrea and the way she fought today," Head Coach Miriam Mitzel said. "She just wanted it today and she deserves to go to state."

The Don men were up next, sending the number six ranked team to compete in the four-mile event against 27 teams.

At the end of the day, Santa Ana finished ninth overall to qualify for state as a team. Eduardo Guapilla led the charge for the Dons, coming in 12^th place with a time of 21:25.2 while Eric Jimenez followed him with a 23^rd place finish at a time of 21:54.6. Jesus Fuentes (54^th), Lizandro Hernandez (102^nd), Eric Truong (114^th), Daniel Gonzalez (134^th) and Pablo Quinonez (143^rd) rounded out the Don men's team.

Now the Santa Ana College Cross Country team will prepare to make the trip up to the State Championships in Fresno on Saturday, November 18^th.