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| Cross Country state champion Oscar Ogwaro of East Los Angeles College. At right, ELAC Interim President Robert G. Isomoto presents a specially-designed state championship ring to Ogwaro, a sophomore from El Sereno. |
Setting a new course record, Osar Ogwaro of East Los Angeles College captured first place at the California Community College Cross Country Championships in Fresno and will be honored with a special presentation in March.
Ogwaro ran the four-mile race in 19 minutes, 56 seconds, easily breaking the Woodward Park course record by eight seconds.
"Oscar's performance was as good as nay that I've seen in my eight years of coaching at the state meet," ELAC Coach Aaron Junta said.
At the 2006 meet held November 18, Ogwaro was among the lead runners to reach the treacherous point where the Woodward Park courses goes from a wide start to a narrow trail. He was the eighth runner to reach the first mile mark and was ahead of the pack of 200 runners after two miles.
"He was in complete control the last two miles, no one else came close to him," Junta said.
Remarkably, Ogwaro did not run cross country or track during his last two years of high school. He competed for Wilson High School in El Sereno his sophomore year before transferring to nearby Bravo Medical Magnet school in East Los Angeles. Bravo does not field teams in cross country and track.
The ELAC Huskies finished second in the team championship, behind San Bernardino and before third-place El Camino.
"Had someone told me at the beginning of the season that we were going to place second in state, I would have been ecstatic," Junta said.
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