Cross Country Has Nine Named All-WSC, Two Academic All-State

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director  

The College of the Canyons cross country program saw a combined nine athletes across the men's and women's team earn All-Western State Conference (WSC) honors for the 2023 season, with two also earning Academic All-State Awards.   

The All-WSC selections were based on individual results from the WSC Championship meet held at L.A. Pierce College in Woodland Hills on Oct. 20.  

On the women's side Katelyn Catu (15th/20:24.9), Kaiya Cortinas (20th/21:21.7) and Emily Cruz (22nd/21:44.4) all received All-WSC Second-Team honors. Emily Valdez (31st/23:18) and Emily Fairbanks (35th/23:42.1) were both Honorable Mention selections for Canyons.

The COC women's team finished fifth in the team standings at the conference finals. The Lady Cougars went on to place 12th at the Southern California Regional Championships and later finished 17th at the state championship meet.

On the men's side, Sam Regez (17th/23:29.8), Cesar Tobar (19th/24:00.7), Jack Eaton (22nd/24:02.5) and Nathaniel Wilkinson (24th/24:20.9) all earned All-WSC Second-Team honors.

COC's men's team finished fourth in the field of 11 teams to record its best finish at the WSC Championships since the 2019 season. The Cougars then ran 15th at the 3C2A Southern California Regional Championships to clinch a trip to the state championship meet. Canyons placed 21st at the state meet in Fresno.

2022 Academic All-State Awards

The Cougars also brought home a collection of academic awards with two members of the 2022 cross country team earning Academic All-State Awards for the prior year.

Current men's team sophomores Regez and Jerome Hughes were both named to the 3C2A Academic All-State Team. 

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.