Forbess, Licon Propel Leopards At SCIAC Multi-Duals

Results

The tandem of Alex Forbess and AJ Licon paced the University of La Verne men's cross country team with respective Top 5 individual finishes at the SCIAC Men's Multi-Dual Meet Saturday at La Mirada Park in La Mirada.

La Verne placed fourth overall at the Multi-Duals with a 4-3 mark, earning dual meet wins over Whittier, Redlands, Cal Lutheran (18-45) and Caltech (15-50) while falling to Occidental (34-21), Pomona-Pitzer (34-24) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (36-25).

Occidental went 7-0 in the meet behind Eric Kleinsasser and Colin Smith, who finished first and second among individuals.  Pomona-Pitzer was 6-1 with CMS at 5-2.

La Verne was within 3 points of Occidental at 4 miles, but each of the Leos' top five runners were passed by at least one of the Tiger competitors in the final half mile.

Forbess continued his strong 2011 season by racing to a third-place performance, completing his eight-kilometer race in 26:34.75.  Not far behind was Licon, who enjoyed his best outing thus far this season by finishing fifth overall with a time of 26:44.39. 

The Leopards also received outstanding efforts from Sean Kusick and Matthew Sustayta who each recorded Top 30 finishes.  Kusick placed 27th overall with a time of 28:12.40, and was followed by Sustayta, who placed three spots behind in 30th with a clocking of 28:12.79.

Ted Breslow (28:45.74) and Cristobal Gutierrez (28:47.23) placed 41st and 42nd, respectively, for the Leopards.

"The results show the impact that a strong 4th and 5th runner can have on a team's placing," said head coach Mike Atwood.  "Both Alex and AJ had very strong performances overall.  It was a crazy day, as Oxy beat two nationally ranked teams, and showed that they are contenders for the West Region title." 

La Verne will compete at the Fullerton Twilight Invitational on Friday, October 22, one week before the SCIAC Championship meet, held October 29 at Prado Park in Chino.