SANTA ANA- The men's and women's cross country teams took on four-year universities at the 2016 Titan Invitational held by California State University, Fullerton this past weekend.
Toni Lopez, Lizeth Luciano-Luis and Lizbeth Luciano all set new personal records in the women's 5K race. Toni Lopez placed ninth out of 87 participants with her new record time of 18:04. Lizeth Luciano-Luis was next for the Dons in 26th place, Lizbeth Luciano in 28th, and Jazlin Madrid in 56th place.
The Dons men's cross country placed eighth out of ten teams at the Titan Invitational. Freshman Dalton Aviles from Anaheim High School placed ninth out of 123 athletes. Aviles broke his own 8K record from three weeks ago at 25:20, as well as breaking the 2015 SAC Men's 8K record by Geovany Garcia.
Paulino Sanchez, Awal Hussen, Brian Ambrocio, Jeremiah Gill, and Francisco Joya all set personal records in the 8K race. Paulino Sanchez placed 26th for the Dons with Awal Hussen right behind him in 29th, Brian Ambrocio in 35th, Jeremiah Gill in 42nd, and Francisco Joya in 100th place.
Freshman Eric Jimeneznava from Ocean View High School finished the 8K race for the first time in his running career at 26:32 and placed 43rd for the Dons.
Dons cross country will race again on Friday, Oct. 28 in the Orange Empire Conference Championships at Central Park in Huntington Beach at 10:00 a.m.