Cuesta College’s Miranda Daschian, Sean McDermott pursue Cougars’ first state title

Cuesta College runners Miranda Daschian and Sean McDermott hope to represent the Cougars well when the CCCAA State Cross Country Championships are held Saturday morning at Woodward Park in Fresno.

An Atascadero High School graduate, Daschian has not lost a race this season and captured both the Western State Conference and CCCAA Regional individual titles. She is trying to become Cuesta’s first individual state champion, following in the footsteps of ex-Cougars Kelly Barmann (2009) and Devon Kelsey (2011) who previously finished second at the state meet.

The women’s 3.1-mile race is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., with the men’s 4-mile race starting at 11 a.m.

McDermott, a former standout at North Tahoe High School, also won the Western State Conference crown this fall and was runner-up at the regional meet. He placed fifth at the state championships last year and is the highest returning finisher from the 2015 field.

The closest Cuesta has come to having an individual state champion on the men’s side was in 1999, when Sergio Reyes finished second. Connor Fisher placed third at the 2014 state meet, and McDermott’s fifth-place finish stands as the third-best mark in school history.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Cuesta College’s Miranda Daschian, Sean McDermott pursue Cougars’ first state title."