New competition awaits the Cerritos College women’s cross country team as it prepares for this weekend’s Embry Riddle Invitational in Prescott, Ariz. Saturday, Oct. 4.

Head coach Bryan Ramos believes that the women will have a better chance than the men, he said, “Just because they’re running the same distance they usually do, so they’re used to that distance.”

The Embry Riddle Invitational will host four-year universities, with Cerritos being the only California community college.

Ramos said, “This is the first meet that Embry Riddle University is hosting, so it gives us a chance to not only travel, but also run against other competition.

“The farthest we’ve traveled is Fresno for the Fresno Invitational. That was a preview meet of our state meet, so that gave the athletes a chance to run the course. We have been running against the same schools since our season started in August and this gives us a chance to run against new competition.”

Sophomore Janet Salazar said, “We’ve been running everyday, so that’s helpful and the workouts will help us to pace for our race.”

Salazar hopes that the success from the SoCal Preview Meet will carry on in Arizona.

“[The women] did pretty good – we came in fourth – but hard work and being competitive and aggressive will help us come back better for the season.”

The women last competed on Sept. 26 at the Golden West Invitational and had four runners finish in the top 35, giving the team fourth place overall.

The team’s next competition will be at the Brubaker Invitational in Irvine on Oct. 10.