IRVINE - Toni Lopez won the first women's Orange Empire Conference Championship in Santa Ana College history today as she crossed the finish line with a time of 19:16.01 at William R. Mason Regional Park.

Lopez highlighted what was a great day for the Dons cross country program as the men boasted a pair of top-5 runners as well. Paulino Sanchez (pictured below, left) took third place in the men's race, just steps ahead of teammate Geovany Garcia in fourth place.

After Lopez claimed the championship, Ana Diaz came across in 22nd place before Lizbeth and Lizeth Luciano finished together in 29th and 30th place, respectively. Two runners later, Angie Gomez capped the Dons scorers as she finished 32nd overall. Another pair of Dons crossed the finish line together, with Jackie Rojas finishing 44th and Maria Baeza 45th. The Dons placed fourth as a team, behind team-champion Riverside City College, second place Orange Coast College and third place Saddleback College.

In the men's race, Ramiro Santos followed the Dons top-two runners in 18th place before Brian Ambrocio crossed the finish line in 23rd place. Edwin Ortiz-Lopez was next across in 27th place before Adrian Hernandez finished 32nd. As a team, the Dons took third overall, trailing only Riverside City College in first place and Saddleback College in fourth place.