Victoria Perez (third from right) finished as Gaston College's individual medalist for the eighth time in the school's eight meets in its two-history on Saturday.

Posted: Oct 08, 2022

Gaston College cross country sets history in Columbia, S.C. meet

Gaston College's cross country continues to set history in its second season as a program.

On Saturday at the Columbia College Cross Country course in Columbia, S.C., the Rhinos saw each of its seven runners complete the 6k event and their team score ranked 13th out of 17 schools that competed.

"I am very proud of all of our young ladies," first-year Gaston College coach Kody Kubbs said. "All seven that raced today completed the 6K and most of them dropped off more than two minutes off their previous personal bests at that distance."

Victoria Perez of nearby Highland Tech in Gastonia was again the Rhinos' medalist with a time of 26:12.1. Perez finished 40th overall and had a team score of 38. Perez has been Gaston College's medalist in all eight of the school's meets it has held since the school restarted athletics in the fall of 2021.

The Rhinos' cumulative team score was 338 for its 13th-place finish in the Akiah McMillan Invitational.

Rounding out Gaston College's team scorers were Stefani Vergara-Delgado (64th-place score, 29:59.0), Andrea Ortiz (76th, 33:55.9), Emma Laney (80th, 37:42.2) and Audrey Krupa (81st, 38:17.5). Also competing for the Rhinos were Leah Treat (98th overall finish, 39:24.8) and Daisy Aviles (103rd, 45:40.9).

The Rhinos now prepare to set more history as they will become the first program since the school restarted athletics to compete in national competition on Oct. 29 when they participate in the Region 10 championships at Spartanburg, S.C.