REDDING, Calif. – Shasta College's Grace Southern finished sixth at the California Community College Athletic Association State Cross-Country Championships Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Southern, a sophomore from Middletown, ran the 3.1-mile course in 18 minutes, 46 seconds for an average mile time of 6:03.3. She was in fourth at the one-mile mark with a time of 5:50.8 and still fourth through the second mile (6:11.5 mile, 12:02.3 overall).

The 18:46 time for Southern was her best mark for the 3.1-mile course this season across seven meets, beating her previous mark of 18:54 by eight seconds from the William Jessup Invitational when she ran against competitors from four-year schools.

"At the start of this cross-country season, I would have said a top 10 finish at the CCCAA State Championships was absolutely unreachable," Southern said. "Fortunately, my coaches had serious beliefs in what I was capable of, kickstarting lost belief in myself. Once I had that, hard work went hand-in-hand with confidence, and some pretty amazing results emerged. It has been a season of success, leaving me optimistic and ardent to keep working and performing."

Southern was second among NorCal qualified runners by 0.3 seconds as San Mateo's Shannen Dorn was fifth overall and first in NorCal with a time of 18:45.7. Last week's winner at the NorCal Regional – Sofia Camacho of Hartnell – was eighth overall in 18:48.1.

"Grace had an incredible year," said Shasta College cross-country coach Anthony Williams. "She sacrificed a lot this year to overcome the new training and the new expectations that were set for her. But to go from 109th two years ago to sixth at the state meet is an incredible feat that not many people can do. Her being able to do that is a testament to her hard work and commitment to reaching the goals that she had set for herself."