Diandra Jara Headed to State Championship!

For the fifth consecutive season, the Knights will have at least one runner racing at the state championship after Diandra Jara qualified with her best 5k run of the year at the Southern California regional championship on Friday. Jara set a new personal record by finishing Friday's race at Kern County Soccer Park (Bakersfield) in 20:20.1, which was 47th overall in a field of 137.

Jackeline Reyes, who has improved her time at every meet as this season, set a new 5k personal record with a time of 21:19.8 to finish 70th overall. She nearly qualified for the state meet along with Jara, but missed out by one spot.

Leslie Barajas was the third Knight to cross the finish line at the SoCal regional with a time of 21:52.6 (84th), which was only five seconds off her best run of the season at the PCAC championship. 

Nihal Samaha was only three seconds off her personal best as she clocked in at 23:52.1 (114th). Joscelyn was only 14 seconds behind Samaha and completed the course in 24:05.4 (118th).

Jada Toeuk, running in her second 5k of the season, set a new personal record of 28:04.3. She cut nealy three minutes off her previous record. Selena Garcia had her second best run of the season at the regionals, finishing in 32:09.9.

As a team, the Knights finished in 16th place, which was two spots shy of qualifying for the state meet.

Jara will run at the state championship on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Woodward Park in Fresno. The race is set to start at 10 a.m.