Manfre Excels For Women's Cross Country At Chaffey Meet

Sophia Manfre is ahead of a pack here during the Chaffey Invitational on October 8 (photo by Michael Watkins).
Sophia Manfre is ahead of a pack here during the Chaffey Invitational on October 8 (photo by Michael Watkins).

For the third time in three meets this season, a third different Lancer ran the fastest time by a Pasadena City College women's cross country team racer at the Chaffey Invitational on Saturday. Sophia Manfre ran a time of 27 minutes, 20 seconds over the Grigsby Field 5K course.

Manfre, a freshman from Arcadia High, placed 20th overall among 31 runners. In a sign that student-athlete numbers in the sport have dwindled this year, PCC was one of six colleges that participated that did not score as a team. Only three schools had the required five runners to team score as El Camino won the meet. 

After Manfre for PCC, Alejandra Penaloza placed 22nd at 27:58.5, Estrella Camacho-Rodriguez was 23rd in 28:14, and newcomer Chelsey Argueta completed her first-ever collegiate meet in 29:34 (25th place). 

With a few runners recovering from injuries, the Lancers are hoping to have enough racers to score in their next meet on Friday, Oct. 14 at the Mt. SAC Invitational at Mt. San Antonio College. The women's race begins at 10 a.m.