ROCKLIN, Calif. – Shasta College's Grace Southern finished fifth overall in the NorCal Preview at Sierra College on Friday while two Knights Marcus Francescut and Jon Wentz both competed in the men's race.

Southern completed the 3-mile course in 20 minutes, 37.5 seconds for an average mile time of 6:52.5. She was the lone Knight competing in the women's race.

For the men, Francescut took 70th out of 88 runners, completing the 4-mile course in 26:30.5 for an average mile time of 6:37.7. Wentz was 84th in 28:39.5 for an average mile time of 7:09.9.

Shasta College cross-country coach Anthony Williams was impressed with the outcome despite facing the challenges of COVID and air quality issues from nearby wildfires.

"I'm proud of how they competed with missing so much," Williams said. "Grace went out hard and never let off the gas, which was great to see. That was one of our best finishes at the NorCal Preview in a long time.

Shasta College is back in action on Oct. 8 at the Butte Invite, which is one of three meets before the Golden Valley Conference Championships on Oct. 29.

"We expect that athletes to improve significantly over the next two months and be battling for a top spot at the conference meet," Williams said.