The Moorpark College men's cross country team has been working hard over the last four years to rebuild the program. This year, the program is beginning to see the fruits of that labor.

The Raiders won by three points over Long Beach City College (42-45).

Freshman Drake Nienow was neck and neck with Donovan Zavala from Long Beach and at times was leading the race. However, in the last 300 meters Zavala took the lead and won the race. Drake finished 2nd in a time of 23:02 and was the fastest freshman.

Sophomore Robby Riggs ran a strong race. He was in the lead pack of five men and finished 4th in a time of 23:22, a 1:13 improvement over last year's time. Fellow sophomore Andrew Teasdale ran his first race of the season, placing 6th in a time of 23:26. Freshman Zach Leith (24:04) had an impressive 9th place finish while Connor Ahl rounded out the top 5 (26:38). Andrew Garcia and Ronnie Reyes were 43rd and 45th, respectively.

Sophia Cortina was the Tour de Cuesta's women's 5k champion. Cortina (20:18) ran comfortably with the front pack for most of the race and decided to separate with about 1/2 mile to go. Sophomore Adriana Perez placed 9th with a time of 22:12.

Liz Verdin placed 13th with a time of 22:54. Venus Venegas (23:57) and Elizabeth Hsu (24:36) were 17th and 22nd, respectively. Estefania De Los Santos (25:02) and Andrea Gonzalez (25:19) were 25th and 26th. The Lady Raiders placed 3rd as a team behind Saddleback and Palomar colleges.

The next race will be Southern California Regional Preview at Mission Bay Park in San Diego on Friday, September 13th following this week's BYE.