Bakersfield College’s cross-country team participated in the WSC Conference meet where the women’s team took fifth out of nine teams.

Out of 86 participants, Crystal Morales from Glendale took first with a time of 18 minutes and 12 seconds. BC’s Sydney Roman took 22nd with a time of 20:03.69.

Roman said she felt good about this race. “I knew it was important to push myself for this race… practices helped me push myself more than I usually do. I’m pushing myself by controlling my breathing and staying mentally strong by focusing on what I can do in the race to push myself for San Diego.”

BC teammate Kelly Hartfield took 24th with a time of 20:04.78, and Alyssa-Lynn Paul placed 29th with a time of 20:25.06.

In contrast, the men’s team took eighth out of 12 teams. Out of 133 participants, Vahagn Isayan from Glendale took first with a time of 19:30.79. BC’s Richard Timmermans placed 27th with a time of 20:55.20.

Timmermans expressed that he felt pretty good that he got a personal best, but he didn’t run the race he wanted to necessarily.

He started out too quick and slowed down toward the end of the race.

“I went out too hard on that first mile [but] I found a good pace to stand at, and once I started sailing passed people, I kept going,” Timmermans said.

“This wasn’t so much the case until the very last mile of the race and I didn’t get the place I wanted to and didn’t perform as well as I wanted, but nonetheless it was a great race, and I can’t complain about it.”

Finishing in 28th place was teammate Christopher Moreno with a time of 20:55.26. Jacob Franco placed 49th with a time of 21:25.09.