Running at the Golden West Classic on Friday, the Cerritos College women's cross country team had to settle for third place out of 15 complete teams. The Falcons, who had seven entries in the 5000 meter race, finished with 115 team points and were edged out of second place by South Coast Conference foe East Los Angeles College, who had 114 team points. The team will take next week off before they run in the Bakersfield Invitational on October 3.

East LA was able to secure second place after they recorded the seventh and eighth place overall finishers, while the top two Cerritos runners came in 18th at 20th places, respectively. Jayla Barnwell (Warren HS) was the first Falcons runner to complete the course when she turned in a time of 21:08.71, while Esther Gonzalez (Warren HS) was right behind her in a time of 21:12.26. Not far off the pace was Monserrat Malo (Warren HS), as her clocking of 21:20.48 put her in 22nd place overall.

It was that trio that gave the Falcons a chance at securing second place overall, as the Huskies didn't see their third runner cross the finish line until 31 others had done so.

Locked in 34th place was Samantha Thompson (Downey HS), who posted a time of 21:52.54, while the final Cerritos runner to comprise the team score was Viviana Martinez (Downey HS), who placed 51st overall with a time of 23:10.78.

Also running on the day for the Falcons included Maricela Herrera (Valencia HS; 24:12.84; 67th place) and Keily Juarez (Warren HS), who came in 76th place with a time of 25:10.62.