Hartnell Women Advance to State With Fourth Place Finish

Heading into the Northern California Championship, the Hartnell women's cross country team was ranked seventh but has known all along they were playing catch up to the rest of the region. After losing to College of the Redwoods and Sierra College at previous meets, the Panthers exacted their revenge in the championship race. Lead by two all-region performances and five course personal bests, the team placed fourth in Northern California and advanced to the CCCAA State Championship on November 19 in Fresno, CA.

Sophomores Sofia Camacho and Ashley Ochoa entered the meet having both earned all-region honors in 2021 and looked to lead the Panthers with high finishes. The pair placed in second and third at the Norcal Preview Meet and were able to replicate the finish after fending off an early challenge from Julia Martinez of Clovis Community College. Camacho, who was less than 100%, rallied the second loop through the hills at Rohner Park to re-emerge in second but with Ochoa in close tow. Ochoa would close slightly better in the final 100 meters to officially get second with Camacho receiving the same time of 20:50 over the very challenging 5k course. Camacho's third place finish combined with last year's Norcal individual title makes her the sixth ever repeat top 5 finisher for Hartnell College. Hartnell now has the most for this category than any other program in Northern California. Ochoa moves up from ninth as a freshman to runner-up in the region. 

The Panthers secured their fourth place team finish with fine performances from freshmen Maria Garcia in 31st (23:53), Ilianna Martinez 43rd (24:40) and Jade Pimentel (25:48) in 53rd. Lapis Hernandez (26:55) and Ana Martinez (28:04) both recorded course personal bests to help the team. The Panthers have placed in the top 4 in the region every since 2014 and only once since 2009 have they failed to place any higher with an eighth place in 2013. 

Heading into the CCCAA State Championship, Sofia Camacho will look to improve on her eighth place All-American finish from 2021 with Ashley Ochoa aiming for an All-American finish of her own after placing 28th as a freshman. Hartnell will enter as a team as the #14 ranked team and looking to crack the top 10 for the fifth consecutive year.