Cuesta Women's Cross Country continues to impress this Fall as the harriers 3rd place finish in last Friday's Western State Conference Preview and placed themselves squarely in the WSC title picture.  All five of the Cougars' scoring runners finished in the Top 22 of the 11-team, 53-harrier event.  Freshman Dulce Esquivel (SLO HS) led the Cougars for the third time in her three starts this season.  She finished in 15th place overall (21:05.8) and just over a second ahead of 2020-21 Team MVP Julia Voss (SLO HS) at 21:06.8.  Sophomore Shannon Ferrall (Arroyo Grande HS) and Freshman Chloe Denham (Moorpark HS) also cracked the Top 20 in 19th (21:36.3) and 20th (21:42.0) places.  Returning Freshman Emily Mathein (Paso Robles HS) made his first start of the season and capped the Cougars scoring team with 22nd place (22:07.8).  The Cougars strong showing came without two regular members of their scoring team Adrienne Frere (Morro Bay HS), who was just behind Esquivel at last week's Masters Meet, and Amelia Schell (Paso Robles HS), who has scored her past two starts.  A full and healthy Cuesta squad will be a strong contender at the 2021 WSC Championship.  

The Cougars travel to Visalia this Friday for their final tune-up before the 2021 WSC Championship on October 22.  The Cougars are scheduled for an 10 AM start at the Sequoias Invitational on the College of Sequoias campus.